The Sorry State of Public Toilets

A defecation-free India was a dream which India achieved in October 2019 when India was declared an open defecation free (ODF) country. Several public toilets were built around the Nagpur city, in posh as well as slum areas to encourage people to defecate in the toilets and not in the open.

Subsidies were also provided to to increase the number of toilets constructed in a particular area. It resulted in a drastic decrease in open defecation.

Broken Toilets

However, 3 years hence, the conditions are going back to what they were before 2019 in Nagpur. A major reason for this is the poor maintenance of public toilets which were the backbone of the ODF movement. It does not take an expert to see the broken, dirty and stinking public toilets around Nagpur which even a pig would avoid.

While taking a stroll by the slum beside Futala lake, it can be observed that the public toilets are breathing their last, if they can, in that awful smell that is coming from them.

Some are falling apart, while others are just so unsanitary that just looking at them can cause puking. This has caused defecation on the side of the street and on open grounds, defeating the purpose of public toilets.

Shameless Citizens

Another major problem is urinating in public areas. A man urinating on the side of the road, on a wall, or in bushes is not a rare sight even in a city like Nagpur which boasts about being an upcoming metropolitan. Lack of clean public toilets mostly and the public's habit of violating their surroundings particularly is a cause of this problem.

Execution and maintenance are two major bottlenecks that every government initiative faces. These bottlenecks prove to be a major problem for the common citizen, most of whom want to be hygienic in public places but lack the necessary means to be the same. The result is the return of open defecation in many low income and some high income areas around Nagpur. Unless these bottlenecks are not addressed, an open defecation-free Nagpur will always be a dream.