Public toilets at Sector 17 sabzi mandi raise big stink

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 26

At a time when sanitation should be one of the main priorities of the UT Administration, public toilets at the ISBT, Sector 17, are in an awful state. The fruit and vegetable market from Sector 26 was temporarily shifted to the bus stand in Sector 17, recently.

Local traders and vegetable visitors complained that toilets here emit foul smell and are not properly maintained. Doors of the toilets are broken and sinks are full of flies and mosquitoes, they added.

Deepak Sharda, one of the traders, lamented, “My shop is right adjacent to a toilet. People come out with wet slippers/ shoes as the toilet is blocked. Foul smell keeps coming from there. I sell potatoes to vendors, you imagine in what condition essential commodities are reaching people.”

“We have complained about this problem many times but to no avail. On the one hand everyone is fighting Covid-19 and on the other hand the bus stand is devoid of basic amenities. The whole city visits the bus stand to buy vegetables and this is the kind of hygiene the administration is providing here,” he added.

“There is no regular attendant at the toilets. People are ready to pay if they get clean toilets. The condition of toilets was better in Sector 26 sabzi mandi,” said a vendor.