Indian Public Toilets: Editorial

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Toilet! Aaargh, the word itself brings an unpleasant feeling to our minds. Imagine an overnight journey, when you cannot resist nature's call for a long time. Yes! The kind driver of your vehicle has stopped the vehicle for refreshments. The moment you enter any of the public toilet in India, you may learn the effective art to close all your senses towards the filth around you. You may not even want to take a drop of water for the rest of the journey since, the traumatic experience in that toilet haunts you for the time.

Ninety percentage of the public toilets in India are the breeding grounds of filth. Of course, there are exceptions as in the case of the public toilets at Puducherry Government bus stand. Instead of those surprisingly neat public toilets, majority of the public toilets in India will welcome you with suffocating stink, stains of earlier use on the toilet pots, lack of water, broken taps, stained or broken buckets and mugs. There is no wonder that Indian public toilets offer a nightmare to travellers all over our independent nation.

Have you ever considered who are the worst sufferers of these unchanging trauma? Without any trace of feminism in mind, I would claim that women are the major victims of this pathetic condition. Many of the male passengers may not be hesitant to fulfill their nature's needs at the nearby bushes. Such an act is unimaginable for Indian women and they have to bear this trauma during all their journeys.

The filthy condition in Indian public toilets not only presents a traumatic experience to the mind but also infects its helpless users with many diseases. Indians have adopted the European toilet pots in almost all the public toilets. However they have easily forgotten the European concept of keeping the toilet seat dry. The use of flush is still alien to many Indians and in many of the Indian public toilets, the flush is conveniently damaged. If you have to sit on those toilet seats, you may not come out without a single skin disease.

You may be lucky if, you do not have to use an Indian public toilet in European style. However many of the poor travellers have complained about the nausea due to the unhygienic conditions in Indian public toilets. The wet floors in those toilets and the thrown away sanitary napkins become the breeding ground for many contagious germs that may infest your body at any time during the toilet use.

Now the question comes..How can we change this pathetic condition? Our culture insists that before we point or fingers at others, the initial change must come from our own side. Even if the worst condition in the public toilet prompts you to run away from the place, make sure to clean the filth made by you.

The next step must come from the authorities. Indian government must take a stern action and insists that the runners of the Public toilets ensure a hygienic as well as neat ambience to their customers. For the easy run of this law the 3 or more public toilets must be opened for the use of the customers. In that case a regular cleaner can ensure the cleanliness of the public toilet after each use, even if there is a long queue.

There is no good cause that comes free. In that case there is no harm if the government levy you for using public toilets. However the runners of these toilets must equip the place with proper flushing aids, water supply, toilet paper, air freshener, bath soap, waste basket and a notice of toilet etiquette. These are really simple matters to achieve and the government must take action to close down the unhealthy public toilets. Let us hope that this lamentable condition in India will not last for long and a change may not remain only as an Utopian dream.