Hyderabad: Driving down to Cyberabad you will notice shiny buildings on swank thoroughfares. And these buildings house scores of offices of large businesses that have all the amenities you can think of.
But that pampering ends the moment you step out of the gates. All is not well outside. The surroundings lack the most basic of amenities – toilets. There are just no public lavatories around the place.
So, what you get is cabbies and construction workers relieving themselves at the nearest corner they can find. Office-goers and the occasional visitor also go for a leak behind the wall for lack of a public lavatory. So much for the city’s Open Defecation Free (ODF) tag and Swachh Bharat Mission.
The area near Mind Space junction where construction for a flyover is going on is teeming with traffic, pedestrians and workers.
A male construction worker, said, “We live in sheds provided to us close to the construction site where there is no toilet facility. I do not know where the nearest facility is and have never been able to access one. Most of the time, I relieve myself in the bushes or in the open land.”
On the stretch from Cyber Towers towards Biodiversity junction too there are no toilet facilities. According to the Swachh Bharat Mission, mandate for urban areas, there should be at least one public toilet within every one km of city space.
In addition, any place that has more than 10 people carrying out construction activity should have toilets for the workers.
If at all, the GHMC often checks for things like building safety and fire safety norms but seldom does it enquire into amenities provided at construction sites.
On the other hand, Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSIIC) allocates a separate plot of land for temporary shelters for industrial construction workers.
According to TSIIC zonal manager, “During the construction phase, we lease out a portion of the land to contractors for sheds for the workers. It is the duty of the executing agency to provide toilets to workers and creches for their children.”
According to experts on the issues, most of the agencies do not penalise the contractors for not providing toilet facilities for fear of delay in the progress of the project.
Former national president of Credai, C. Shekar Reddy, said, “Professional builders and developers do provide facilities to the construction workers.
They even provide creches for kids as the construction activity may go on for two-three years. However, it is often the contractors who provide small huts and shirk the rest of their responsibility.”
Since the construction activities are long-term, especially in Cyberabad area, Mr Reddy suggests having transit accommodation.
“A lot of these labourers are seasonal workers. Since labour cess is charged and there is money available, having a transit accommodation as a permanent asset would benefit both the government and workers.”
When a permanent facility is built, then the contractor need not worry about housing. He can instead concentrate on providing transport and toilet facilities to workers. However, lack of lavatories in Cyberabad area is one serious drawback of the otherwise well-developed area.
GHMC west zone commissioner Hari Chandana Dasari said, “We received complaints of open defecation near Meenakshi Towers where construction is happening, so we put up toilets there and also near Nallagandla. But since some of the owners did not consent to build toilets, we recently got restaurants, hotels, petrol pumps and shopping malls to agree to allow their toilets facilities for public use.”
