Public toilets in city raise a stink

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 21

Despite the Municipal Corporation (MC) boasts of constructing 84 community and public toilets across the city, a number of public toilets still remain in shabby condition. 

While some toilets have been outsourced to social organisations, others are maintained by the MC itself. Surprisingly, many of them are constructed at places where public toilets already existed.

Of the total 84 public and community toilets, 23 new public toilets and 6 community toilets are being newly constructed. These include public toilets near the office of fire brigade, behind Kali Mata temple, at Arya Samaj, in Tripuri, in Virk colony and others.

A number of public toilets, including the one near the Kali Mata temple are functional. One of such public toilet in Choti Baradari is now maintained by the market association. However, the association members keep the toilets locked and use it for their own use.

An MC official said, “Some public toilets have been maintained while others are still in unhygienic condition. The MC is doing the maintenance after which some of them have been handed over to market associations. This way the units are kept clean without incurring expenditure by the local body.”

To name a few, a urinal at the Gurbaksh colony, public toilets at Rajpura colony, Raghomajra sabzi mandi, near Khadar bhandar, are in dirty condition. Residents said the urinals and bathrooms emit foul smell and have not been maintained for a long time.

Lucky, a resident, said, “The MC has constructed new toilets where public toilets were already available. They have constructed one near the Kali Mata temple where the facility is already available. None of them are accessible to differently-abled persons.”

When contacted, officials in the Municipal Corporation, on the condition of anonymity, said, “We are maintaining all the public toilets in the city. Those currently not functional will soon be repaired. We have decided to shift the toilet segment, earlier being constructed opposite the Beant Singh Complex on a footpath, at a new site.”