Lack of toilet facility at railway platforms irks passengers

Sumeer Singh

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 6

Passengers are a harried lot as there are no toilets at four platforms of the city railway station. Left with no choice, passengers are forced to reach platform No. 6 to answer the call of nature or do it in the open across the railway station.

As per information, there are no toilets at platform number one, two, three and four of the city railway station. As a result, it is the passengers who are left to bear the brunt. Passengers have to cross the entire premises of the railway station to reach the corner of platform number five to use washrooms.

Sukhdev Singh, a passenger, said, “It is quite troublesome for passengers who have to walk across the station to use washrooms. Sometimes I have to hold it and wait for a train to arrive so that I can use its toilet inside. But when it is very difficult to hold it, I have to rush to use the toilets at platform number 5.”

Sources said left with no choice, many passengers could be seen urinating in the open across the railway station near the government quarters. But it is women passengers who are inconvenienced a lot as they can only use washrooms at platform number 5. Women along with their children have to suffer for want of the toilet facility at the four platforms at the railway station.

A group of passengers said on one hand, the government kept blowing the trumpet of ‘Swachh Bharat’, but on the other, in the absence of toilets, passengers/visitors could be seen urinating in the open. It is urgent that authorities concerned build at least one toilet at every platform to save passengers inconvenience of visiting the railway station on a daily basis.

Station Superintendent Ramswaroop Meena said, “There are some technical issues as area of platforms is small and we have to maintain a certain distance of toilets from where the train stops. There is certainly requirement of toilets at every platform at the station. We have written to the assistant divisional engineer in this regard.”