No room to access

The City certainly prides itself in its vast green cover as well as a number of sprawling parks with varieties of trees. While many begin their day with a refreshing walk in these parks, some simply go there to seek solace and shut off from the rest of the world. In fact, parks in several localities now boast of an open-air gym where one can engage in an invigorating workout.

However, in the midst of such activities, what do people do when they need to use a restroom? Many parks lack adequate facilities for toilets and most people hesitate to use the existing ones due to poor sanitation and the subsequent fear of infections.

Archana, a visitor at Cubbon Park, says, “The toilets here are not clean. Even without using them, one can make out.” The park, governed by the Department of Horticulture, has five privately maintained ‘pay and use’ toilets — three by Phoenix Cabins (PC), at the Bal Bhavan, KR Circle and UB City entrances, and two by Swachha City Foundation (SCF), at the Corporation Circle entrance and behind the High Court. While the PC toilet blocks have urinals for men as well as Indian and Western style facilities for both ladies and gents, SCF has urinals and only Indian style toilets.

Both charge Re 1 for urinals and Rs 2 for other toilets. Though the in-charge claims that they are cleaned six to seven times a day, the PC toilets are best avoided — they are not well-maintained and are quite unsanitary.

The SCF toilets, on the other hand, are washed about twice a day (and whenever they get dirty), but are relatively better, though the dustbins require proper cleaning and wash basins need to be equipped with soap. However, the respective people incharge maintain that their supervisors inspect the facilities daily and the Cubbon Park deputy director visits occasionally.

Despite that, the keenness for maintenance is clearly lacking as CN Kumar, a long-time regular walker here, points out, “There have been lots of improvements in the park since the last decade, especially pertaining to the Bandstand, walkways, pavements and greenery. They can charge a little more for the toilets but should focus on regular maintenance. That inclination is missing.” Some also feel that there should be better facilities for Western toilets in the park to keep foreign tourists at ease.

Lalbagh, which again comes under the Department of Horticulture, also has five privately maintained ‘pay and use’ toilets — four by SCF, at Main Gate, West Gate, Double Road entrance and near the Glasshouse, and one by GMR Group at the Siddapura Gate. The SCF toilets are more or less the same as in Cubbon Park — visitors say they are fairly decent though the cleanliness can be improved. However, in sharp contrast to PC, the GMR Group toilets are well-maintained and of a good standard. This highlights that accountability on the part of private players is an important factor in this regard.

The scenario is worse in the smaller parks of the City. Walkers at Krishna Rao Park in Basavanagudi, taken care of by the BBMP, seem to be quite miffed with the state of the washrooms.

The general toilet has been locked for a long time as the person incharge of looking after it has left due to non-payment of salary, informs a worker there. Two other Indian style e-toilets, that operate on power and require insertion of a Re 1 coin, have been installed in the last couple of years. They are foul-smelling and Shivshankar, a regular, highlights that it is this unplanned nature that is to blame. “The toilets stink because the pit where the
faecal matter drains is very close to them.”

Others say that half the time these e-toilets do not function due to technical issues or power cuts. Meghna states that she’s never used the general toilet due to hygiene concerns and is wary of using the e-toilets since one can get locked inside during a power cut.

At Bugle Rock Park, the taps in the ladies-toilet do not function and one of the dustbins has sanitary waste spilling out of it. Mahesh, the caretaker, says that he wants to complain to the BBMP about this but doesn’t know whom to contact. MN Vaidyanathan, a regular, highlights the lackadaisical approach, saying that the toilet facilities are very sub-standard. “They charge money but there is no proper maintenance. Very few people use the toilet here and mostly in case of emergency,” he observes.