Open Drains, pricey washrooms, abusive men: How girls of Madanpur Khadar live their lives

The slums of Samosa Chowk is not a pleasant sight for anyone, with its open drains, pigs swimming in sewers, pungent streets, animal faeces filled roads, huge garbage dumps, the areas in itself is rather unwelcoming to any visitor. The people of Samosa Chowk we interacted with were, however welcoming and greeted us with a warm smile.

19-year-old Kriti and Gayatri, residents of Samosa Chowk and aspiring interior designer and primary school teacher, respectively, were ecstatic to share their stories and take us through their lives.

"Washroom issue is the main problem," says Gayatri. Each Block has one washroom with multiple toilets built-in. " Men in front of these washrooms are often rude and act very entitled. They even charge 2 rs- 3rs for the washroom when it's supposed to be free, and the worst part is that they lock the washroom and leave whenever they want to," says Kriti with a frustrated look. The girls unitedly were also equally annoyed at the increasing price rates of the washroom.' They keep changing prices upon their will. It was 1 rs some years back, and now it's 3 rs," says the school-going Meeksha. Washrooms are only cleaned once every 2 or 3 months which explains the pungent smell in the stalls.

The conditions of the washrooms are far from better. The washroom paints a deserted haunted house look with no lights, pungent smell, open slabs,no pad disposal outlet, and no dustbins. The lack of water in certain washrooms in the locality has forced the girls to take water from outside the blue buckets, which often is the breeding ground for several water-borne diseases.

Talking about diseases, the people of the locality are often sick with fever,cold, and cough thanks to the unhygienic living conditions.

The locality only has a primary health care center, and they have to travel kilometres to reach a hospital. Although the place is not bereft of chemists and dispensaries majority of them often close abruptly without any proper notice. One thing that has made the girls' lives living hell are abusive drunkard men. The washroom caretakers in many blocks are men who often come to their job drunk. When inquired about why they charge a price for the washroom when it's supposed to be free, the men justify it by citing the age-old" We are not getting paid by the government; we should also earn money some way" in a condescending manner.

When you are living in an ungated community plagued with problems, safety is bound to be a big concern. Girls in the area, with the help of an NGO, were successful in convincing the authorities to install some CCTV in some areas. However, they say it's not enough to guarantee their safety as drunk men and thieves wander around the streets at night. Robbery and theft is a common occurrences in the area, says the people.The supposed parks in the area looks like a barren ground with garbage dumps and no rides,the kids can be seen playing in a lone swing amidst the waste. The NGO that works with the people in the area has girl volunteer heads in each Block who raise their concerns. From sanitation to water scarcity, lack of proper garbage disposal outlets, to inaccessible roads, the girls have sent numerous complaints to the municipal corporations and local authorities but to no avail.

The girls are visibly frustrated, especially with respect to the treatment meted out to them by the people who handle the washrooms. Apart from this, they seem hopeful about their future. They have big dreams and aspirations and are also doing part-time jobs to sustain themselves. While unemployment is still a big issue, some of them are doing distance college learning and expect their living conditions to be better when they graduate and get a stable salaried job.