Moti Dongor is the vote bank that candidates
would love to wrest from the Margao MLA. It is
home to over 2,500 votes and families here are
aware of their political strength. They know that,
as a group, they have political clout. But there is
a weaker side. They are hapless about sanitation. The Margao
MLA claimed that when he was first elected he built four toilet
blocks with a ratio of one toilet for 100 people. In such a situation
defecation in the open is the rule rather than the exception.
And this unhealthy system is likely to continue because
there is no land to spare for toilet blocks. No government has
shown the political will to make necessary changes here. Here,
enforcing regulations is impossible because all the hutments
are illegal and any move to force one’s way through could result
in the loss of 2,500 votes.
The more important question is, how badly do the people of
Moti Dongor want toilets? It is a queer question to ask, but success
in building toilets and getting
people to use them would depend
on how badly they want it. If the
residents of Moti Dongor are happy
with the present scheme of things,
then there is no compelling reason
to change status quo. On the other
hand, if they are desperate enough
for toilets, the question is what sacrifice are they willing to
make to get them. Because without their cooperation it would
be impossible to build a sanitation system.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set 2019 as the target for
achieving complete sanitation in the country. His aim is to
build 80 lakh new toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
Accordingly, an allocation of Rs 15,000 per toilet has been
made, but this is not enough. It has now been realized that it
takes Rs 30,000 to build one. The more difficult task though, is
to get people to use them. Secondly, with no one in-charge of
cleanliness, toilet blocks tend to slip into a state of neglect and
then no one wants to use them.
Moti Dongor is like any other slum with a total lack of sanitation
facilities. This was also the experience of slums in Brazil.
But engineers and politicians there set out to fix it and the condominial
sanitation system was developed. The corner stone
of this system is cooperation. In Brazil residents get involved
in the planning and implementation process. They take ownership
of the system and sign on to pay for the maintenance.
This gives them a stake in the upkeep of the system unlike here
where the users don’t have a stake or interest. Margao has a
sewerage system and a treatment plant. The only issue is connecting
Moti Dongor to it and the condominial system is the
best bet. This is why we asked, how badly do the people of Moti
Dongor want a sanitation system.
