1. Happy Colony Slum, Karvenagar, Pune
Community Composition: Heterogenous. Different communities live in different clusters in the same
area. For eg Gosavi Basti is inhabited by the newer maharashtrian migrants whereas the Chouhan basti
has the older inhabitants from UP/ Rajasthan.
General Description: Is a large slum in the Karvenagar area in Pune. It is flanked by tall residential
building complexes. Most of the women in the basti work as maids in the homes nearby.
Since there is a varied communal group of inhabitants in the area, there is a significant demarcation of
facilities and discrimination when it comes to using them.
Sanitation Situation: There are SPARC-built monthly pass toilets, an old Pune Municipal Corporation
(PMC) toilet, and a huge farmyard next to the PMC toilet where most people still practice open
defecation.
Top Reasons to Choose This Location/Unique Aspects:
1. Examples of pay-and-use, PMC free to use toilets and open defecation in the same area.
2. The community has very restrained dynamics amongst its various clusters.
(For example, the residents from Chouhan Basti don’t go to the nearby Gosavi Basti community toilet
even though it is just 4 blocks away, as they don’t like the members of that community. Also, the Gosavi
residents claim that the Chouhan Basti residents don’t keep the toilet clean and pick up fights easily and
hence they don’t encourage them to use it).
3. One of the residents said that the community members were asked if they want a better community
toilet block (like the one in Gosavi Basti), but most of them refused as they wanted a free-to-use system
and weren’t willing to pay monthly charges, and hence continued using the defunct PMC toilet.
4. One of the only pay-and-use toilet blocks where we saw the caretaker and his entire family living above
the toilet block. The caretaker is also free to take up other odd jobs to keep his finances running and isn't
tied to the toilet facility.