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| Sikharchandi slum road in Bhubaneswar |
The tiny girl, Usharani Patra
welcomed us and took us to different places of the slum to show the unhygienic
condition, bad roads and waterlogged areas.
She showed a well at cluster-II
of Sikharchandi slum and told that despite the water in the well having gone
unhygienic; the residents were consuming it and using it for various purposes.
“They don’t have proper drinking water facilities though they are living in a
big city of the State,” she said.
One of the big problems in the
slum was drainage facilities due to which drain water was entering into the
houses and a nearby temple of the slum. As the drain water, most of the time,
gets deposited near the Trinath temple of cluster-II of the slum, it has
resulted in water logging and provided a suitable breeding place to the
mosquitoes.
“Every time the sewerage water enters
into our homes, we are in for trouble. Our children suffer from various
diseases due to the unhygienic condition it creates,” said a slum dweller Raju
Reddy, adding, “We have been complaining the BMC
about the problem many a time, but nobody is paying heed to our grievances.”
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| Trinath temple of Sikharchandi slum |
Trinath temple campus, a
community centre of the street, was filled with water and the Hanuman statue
along with the main temple was dipped in water. The stock water on the temple
premises could not be channeled out due to lack of drainage facility. Earlier,
the drain water was channeled out to an open field, but after the land was
covered with a boundary wall, the water just stays put. “During rainy season,
the temple is surrounded with water most of the time,” said temple priest
Debraj Panigrahy, adding, “Even the road in front of the temple is substandard
and mud filled creating many problems, especially for the children crossing the
road.”
Another problem is the wells in
the street soak water from outside and hence the water in them gets
contaminated and unhygienic. Besides, garbage dump at several places in the
street has become a headache for the residents using the street, said Usha,
while bidding adieu to us.
After talking with street
children of Sikharchandi slum, we moved Azad Nagar slum near Lingaraj station
of Ward-58 under the BMC . We visited Muslim
Basti and met children of the slum.
They cited mostly the same
problems including poor amenities, substandard roads and sanitation. The women
folk showed us a canal and told the residents were crossing it on a bridge
created with a pair of two telephone poles. They said it was risky and at times
creates mishaps, but then they have no options.
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| Azad Nagar slum in Bhubaneswar |
“At least the BMC
or the State Government should build a small bridge to connect both sides, but
nobody is interested to take up the issue,” lamented Asfaq Iqbal.
The youth said most of the time a
transformer in the slum failed to supply electricity due to load shedding
problem. Around 400 households were facing problems of drinking water and
electricity, he added.
Humara Bachpan campaign
coordinator Anant Prasad said that 23.1 per cent people of Odisha live in slums
and out of that 8.5 lakh defecate openly due to lack of latrine, bath and water
facilities. Quoting the 2011 Census data, he said that only 38 per cent of slum
houses in the State are in ‘good’ condition. The census gives a picture where
children, whose population is 10-15 per cent, are mostly neglected in the
State, he added.
“Problem never ends, but it can
be solved with right approach. A small initiative can bring smile in the faces
of slum children,” said a social activist.
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