大象传媒

The problem of building enough toilets in India

  • Published
Media caption,

Why India needs toilets

More than 600 million people in India don't have access to a toilet, says the World Health Organisation.

Many people there live in slums - makeshift homes that don't have toilets or pipes to connect to sewers.

It means public toilets are the only option, but there aren't enough and long waiting times mean many people are forced to go to the toilet outside.

India's government now says it wants to build more than five million toilets within 100 days.

Not enough room

However, there's a problem: there isn't enough room to build the toilets.

A lot of land in India is taken up by slums, meaning some would have to be demolished to make space.

Media caption,

Toilet inventions could change the world

But the government doesn't want to do this, because so many people live in the slums.

Instead, the only solution is to demolish the existing public toilets and build them again with more toilets in them.

Although this won't entirely solve the problem, it's hoped it will make life a bit easier, and safer, for some people at least.