Agra stinks, needs more public toilets
Nov 19, 2006 - 11:24:49 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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Social activist and gynaecologist Shivani Chaturvedi said lack of facilities could lead to health hazards. 'Bad toilet habits and unclean toilets breed many common ailments.'
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By Indo Asian News Service,
[RxPG] Agra, Nov 19 (IANS) Agra, city of the Taj Mahal and dotted with historical monuments that are visited by millions of tourists every year, needs at least one public toilet every kilometre, speakers said on the occasion of World Toilet Day.
'Even the one maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the Taj Mahal not only stinks but remains choked,' said speakers at a function here Sunday to commemorate World Toilet Day.
Nov 19 was declared 'World Toilet Day' in 2001 by 17 toilet associations around the world.
Local residents said they were more concerned at the sorry spectacle of men and women defecating by the roadside in most parts of Agra, around historical monuments, railway tracks and public parks.
'The municipal corporation and other government bodies have shown no interest in maintaining the existing ones (toilets) and cite resource crunch as a major reason for not opening more. But this is an urgent requirement of the exploding population that needs proper and well maintained public toilets,' said Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.
One of the chief causes of river pollution in Agra is due to people defecating along the riverbank or on street drains that open into the Yamuna.
A group of social activists and environmentalists have appealed to the authorities to punish those who pollute the river. Yamuna Bachao Samiti (save Yamuna society) members expressed concern over poor maintenance of public toilets. 'Without water and regular cleanliness efforts, people have no choice but to look for alternatives,' they said.
Tourists who come to Agra for the first time find the city's environment peculiar, emitting a nauseating stink, said a speaker.
This typical Agra stink is ubiquitous all over the city. If a foreign visitor took a morning stroll for some fresh oxygen, he'd be amazed to see rows of people sitting along the national highway or the railway tracks answering nature's call.
They prefer not to use the community toilets built by the Agra Municipal Corporation or the Sulabh Shauchalayas in the slum clusters. 'These people have been criminally assaulting the parks and the Yamuna river. Had it not been for the stray animals, pigs, and dogs, the whole city would have been sitting on a huge mound of human excreta,' said Bankey Lal Maheshwari, a social worker.
The Agra Nagar Nigam has a project to convert all dry latrines into flush toilets, for which Rs.2,000 has to be paid per family. But over the years despite construction of thousands of permanent latrines, people haven't changed their habits. A resident of Khandari, when asked why he didn't use the public toilets, said: 'Why should we pay a rupee or two to go to the toilet when this can be done free.'
'Where's the water for flushing the toilets?' asked Shravan Kumar of Kanghi Gali in Gokulpura. 'When there's no water to drink or cook meals, how do you think people would clean toilets,' he wondered.
What of the public toilets built on public land along roads? 'They are not usable. Most are never cleaned and therefore choked and overflowing with waste. People normally prefer to use the boundary walls or the trees,' explained environmental engineer R.K. Gupta.
Social activist and gynaecologist Shivani Chaturvedi said lack of facilities could lead to health hazards. 'Bad toilet habits and unclean toilets breed many common ailments.'
The ASI launched its annual heritage week Sunday with a display of paintings and photographs at the Taj Mahal. Several more programmes are planned to create awareness about the Indian heritage and the citizens' responsibility to keep them in good shape, ASI officials said.
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