Toilet Access: Mapping the Facilities in a Mumbai Slum

Access to a toilet is something we can all understand. When I'm walking around an unfamiliar city and I or one of my children need to use a restroom, finding one, especially a clean facility, becomes a single focus. In North America, we usually can.

This article ("Mapping Toilets in a Mumbai Slum Yields Unexpected Results" in the NYTimes) on toilet locations in an Indian slum - Cheeta Camp - got my attention.  A MPH student at Harvard mapped the toilets in Cheeta Camp and found there to be roughly 1 toilet for every 170 people.

The map, which you can get to here, is striking. As you look at it and click around on the placemarks, you can quickly see that there just aren't that many toilets. Some don't work. Some are being built. Often there's a fee to use the better toilets. Check out the article and photos too. This a clear example of environmental injustice.

I'll try and remember this next time I'm standing in a long line at a sports event or play, waiting to use the restroom.

Thanks, Beth, for sending this article my way!