17,60,000 passengers travelling daily by the Chennai suburban railway had only nine toilets that they could use across 47 stations, till NGO Satta Panjayathu Iyakkam stepped in. The results hold important lessons for civic problem solving.
Chennai’s ranking in this year’s Swacch Survekshan is a dismal 235 out of 434. For the city to literally ‘clean up’ its act, there has to be a concerted effort to build more toilets, encourage their use and stop open defecation.