Public toilet closed at Residency road in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH Photo/S K Dinesh
While India declared itself open defecation-free on October 2, 2019, its Silicon Valley, Bengaluru, continues to have a crumbling public toilet infrastructure. A recent study revealed that along with a general lack of public toilets, there are hygiene, privacy, accessibility, and safety issues with existing toilets.
Conducted by the Centre for Disability Justice and Inclusion (CDJI) of RV University, the study investigated 65 public toilets across public spaces in the city. With only 360 public toilets serving more than one crore people, the problem starts with finding a public toilet.
The study highlights that even places like Church Street and Commercial Street, with high footfall, lack nearby toilets. Despite a few in popular places like Lal Bagh and Cubbon Park, due to the lack of proper route maps, visitors are forced to play treasure hunts to find one and relieve themselves.
Of the 65 toilets investigated in the study, 52 had no route maps around them, and Google Maps also proved ineffective.
“During our investigation, we observed five instances where there was no toilet, despite the Google map showing one at the exact location,” said Meghna Sharma, Co-author of the report and Director of CDJI.
Most public toilets in the city are pay-and-use, which leads to another problem of dynamic pricing. The report highlighted that while the usual price is five Rs, it doubles to 10 in areas like St. Marks Road and Shivajinagar.
Most places charge different prices for urinals and water closets, leading to a gendered price gap. This price rise largely impacts people who heavily rely on them, like street vendors, gig workers, and homeless people.
While the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 requires all public buildings, including public toilets, to be accessible for persons with disabilities, the research found that of the 65 investigated, only 14 had specific stalls for persons with disabilities. However, seven of them were locked, one was being used as a storeroom, and another was built in a way that no wheelchair user could enter it.
However, the report also highlighted that in two public toilets, there were separate toilets for transgender individuals.
Although sanitary napkins are a fundamental need for menstruating individuals, only two public toilets displayed signage of their availability according to the report. Upon enquiry by the researchers, it was disclosed that they can be sourced on request from nearby pharmacies by male staffers of the toilet, which could lead to uncomfortable situations.
The usability of already limited toilets is further limited by a lack of sanitation, insufficient lighting, and an unsafe environment.