In India, only 43 per cent of the urban population has access to basic sanitation. In the low-income slum settlements, 15 per cent of the households have their own toilets and another 21 per cent have access to community toilets. This case study documents a community sanitation project in eight slums in the Tiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu State, in southern India. The slums in the study had six community dry latrines in which the human waste fell into an open pit and was collected manually and two latrines with septic tanks constructed by the municipal corporation. However, the structures had all became unserviceable due to the poor maintenance of any municipal infrastructures created before April 1999. The women in Viragupettai reported that “the non-maintenance of the latrines caused faecal worms to generate and reproduce, and they could be found nearby the water taps, and even inside the walls of their houses.” Poor sanitation and contaminated water affected all families with disease, increasing their medical expenses.

Male community leaders did not take any steps to provide improved facilities. Requests to the government for better services were of no avail until the people joined forces with Gramalaya, an NGO that works with communities on water and sanitation projects.