Kanpur, the largest city in Uttar Pradesh, is the hub of industry and a thriving urban centre. The civic amenities here, however, have not been able to keep up with the scale of expansion, as thousands make their way from the hinterlands every year, in search of work and better prospects. About 25 percent of the population resides in congested slums and other informal settlements that have sprung up around railway tracks, on pavements and near the Ganges. Census Data reveals that, in the absence of adequate sanitation facilities, at least 41, 757 households in urban Kanpur defecate in the open. Yet, if women like Sangeeta Awasthi, Kalpana Anand and Kiron Srivastava have their way, then at least their neighbourhoods will soon be open defecation free. These committed community leaders are also working hard to ensure availability of clean drinking water in their shanties.

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