Still reeling under shock over the death of two brothers, residents of Rangpuri Pahari Basti on Monday complained that the area lacked proper toilets and water supply, forcing them to defecate in the open.
Siblings Anand, 7, and Aditya, 5, were allegedly attacked by stray dogs within a span of two days in the slum cluster near Vasant Kunj. While Anand was killed on Friday and his body was found in the jungle adjacent to the slum cluster, Aditya succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, a day after he was attacked when he had gone to relieve himself near the bushes.
According to Salim Khan, founder of Little India Foundation, an NGO, the jhuggis (hutments) don’t have adequate water supply and enough space to build washrooms. Mr. Khan, who has been teaching children in the area for some years now, said his students are forced to go to the jungle to defecate.
Manoj Kumar, 15, said, “Whenever I go to the jungle, I’m scared to go alone. There are no street lights and the area is infested by all kinds of animals.” He said the women in the area struggle to go out at night. “Every time they have to go out to relieve themselves, male members have to accompany them.”
In 2019, on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared the country open defecation-free. However, residents of the Rangpuri Pahari Basti said they don’t have access to toilets despite repeated requests. They claimed to have made several requests to the local MLA and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) to install fences in the area in order to restrict the movement of stray animals. However, nothing has been done so far, they said.
When contacted, SDM Vinay Kumar Jindal did not offer a comment. But MLA Bhupinder Singh Joon said fences were already in place. “In fact, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board has installed toilets in the area long ago,” he added. Residents denied the claim about toilets and said only a small stretch is fenced.