Litter-free zones are fine but where are the public toilets

The ministry of panchayat raj is going ahead and announcing awards and sops for localities, schools in villages that have toilets. On the contrary, the state of public toilets under the Greater Hyderabad limits is abysmal. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has announced ‘Litter-Free Zones’ but it has left what is a bare necessity, toilets.

In a survey conducted by the GMR group, which maintains the ‘Pay-and-Use’ toilets, it was found out that there weren’t any public toilets in eight of the 18 circles of the GHMC. Of the 150 existing public toilets maintained by various NGOs, 65 were unusable.

According to the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) norms, there should be one toilet serving each kilometre stretch of road in the city. They should also be disabled friendly. The male-female ratio for toilet availability should be 1:1. Not only, the city follows any of these norms, but also the location of public toilets is quite haphazard.

Due to poor management and apathy of the authorities, not all toilets are available round the clock. Those living in houses without toilets are forced to urinate and defecate in the open.

There are no special facilities for the physically challenged in public toilets, either. The entrance is almost always elevated by a few steps which makes it impossible for those in wheel chairs to get in. Even makeshift ramps are never available.

Women face a lot of problems because there are fewer toilets for them than there are for men. Most lack separate sections for women.

Also, the attendants being mostly men, women are left hesitant to use the facility. However, women who work on the streets as vendors or cleaners are forced to use these toilets which do not have any bins.

According to the findings of the survey:

• About 27 per cent of women were not aware that there are Pay-and-Use toilet facilities.

• 46.6 per cent said that they wait until they reach home even if they feel an urgent need to use a toilet

• Only 44.7 per cent use a public Pay-and-Use facility.

• 64.2 per cent, who used public convenience, had a bad experience

“It is important for the caretaker to ask the people to maintain hygiene. Most of the people do not use water, they often steal the light bulbs, break the toilet seat and do not use it properly making it very difficult for others to use the toilet.Therefore, if the caretaker feels that a person may not know how to use the toilet, then he must instruct the person on the proper way to use the toilet. The toilet must also be inspected after it has been used. There are many challenges, but that does not mean that we must not provide a good, clean and hygienic facility,” said PC Gupta, controller, Sulabh International – Hyderabad.

“For construction of a toilet for 20 people (10 men and 10 women), it costs Rs 20 lakh and for maintenance it costs Rs 30,000 per month,” he added.

“The GHMC is not providing water for toilets. For the existing ones itself, they are procuring water through tankers,” said an operator of a public toilet.