Unhygienic bathrooms at govt hospitals, nobody bothers

Karam Parkash/

Ravneet Singh

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 25

Patiala city lacks cleanliness at public toilets and washrooms even though the Union Government has been emphasising stress on cleanliness. However, the cleanliness drives initiated before visit of teams of Swachh Sarvekshan in January this year seem to have lost effect as the authorities have ignored to maintain cleanliness.

Filthy and unkempt bathrooms in wards of Government Rajindra Hospital are a major concern for the public health visiting for medicines and treatment. These unhygienic conditions spread infections drastically. People visiting the hospital bathrooms are forced to stand in urine to relieve themselves as the sewerage pipes are choked. Water keeps running all time and urine is spread on the floor. 

Nearly 200 patients visit the hospital’s emergency ward every day. The number of people visiting the OPD is far greater. The ceiling of the hospital bathrooms constantly leak. On Monday, Medical Superintendent MS Brar, said, “The bathrooms have not been upgraded since 10 to 15 years. A grant of Rs 100 crore allocated for upgrade of the hospital is still awaited. The bathrooms are our priority and we will upgrade them as soon as we receive the grant.” 

The conditions are no different at the Government Mata Kaushalya Hospital where the urinals are choked. Washbasins at the hospital are broken and not maintained properly. The Senior Medical Officer, Anju Gupta, said, “We have written to the Municipal Corporation (MC) regarding the unkempt conditions of the bathrooms here a number of times but have received no response from the authorities there.”

The urinals at the city bus stand are also in a shambles. Positioned near the auto-rickshaw stand, the urinals and sewerage pipes are choked due to which dirt accumulates on the road. The auto-rickshaw drivers say the area was last cleaned in January. Ramesh Mandal, a rickshaw puller, said, “They cleaned these urinals last January. Since then the officials have not paid any attention to it.” Manjet Singh Narang, Managing Director (MD) of Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), said, “The urinals in the open are illegally being used though we have temporarily closed the area for revamp. All bathrooms there will be properly maintained within a month. I will also direct officials to ensure the temporarily closed area is not used.”

The bathrooms at Choti Baradari are kept locked by the market committee members. People visiting the nearby markets and offices are inconvenienced as the bathrooms are constantly kept closed. The Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kumar Amit, said, “We will revamp the bathrooms and underground parking in the city this year itself. I will also direct officials to ensure availability of the bathrooms for public use in the markets.”

Meanwhile, toilets were found relatively clean at the railway station. An attendant sat outside to collect usage charges. Bathrooms in Punjabi University’s hostels and departments have also been revamped lately.