Its 5:30 pm on a weekday, and as people walk by a public-toilet a few metres away from a mall in Vadapalani, their discomfort is clearly visible. Shanmathi, who gets a share auto every day from a point near the public restroom, says, “I don’t know if they clean it inside. We cover our nose every time we cross it. And, making it worse at times are men who smoke outside the toilets. They do it when the police aren’t around and no one really complaints,” she rues.
With an overflowing garbage bin outside the toilet and some men defecate on the walls nearby, despite a public toilet just a few feet away, it makes you wonder about the lack of awareness on sanitation, and also about the adequacy, accessibility and availability of ‘good public toilets’ in the city.
There are predominant types of toilet models that remain the main focus of sanitation programmes — women sanitary complexes, anganwadis (government-run day-care centres) and community toilets. “A good toilet should have facility for bathing, washing, and electricity; it should also be accessible to everyone.
