Toilet Access among the Urban Poor – Challenges and Concerns in Bengaluru City Slums

Urban expansion in India over the last few decades has placed cities in a challenging situation with limited infrastructure facilities affecting the quality of life of people who live in low income settlements. Sanitation is one such important infrastructure that needs to be addressed urgently. Like any other Indian city, Bengaluru is facing serious challenges in providing sanitation infrastructure for the urban poor living in 597 slums with a population of 13.8 lakh. We surveyed 400 respondents across twenty slums through survey instruments and FGDs to understand the problems of toilet access and usage. Alarmingly, we found that access to toilets remains a serious issue as open defecation prevailed in 10 slums (13.5% households). This reiterates the fact that although several interventions have been made to improve sanitation facilities, complete access is yet to be achieved to make Bengaluru free of open defecation. The findings of the study would help understand the ground truths and provide insights to improve sanitation access to the poor.