JOIN USNo use getting peeved at bus crew peeing in public
Drivers and conductors of BMTC buses in the City, who travel on an average two to three hours at a stretch, are left with no choice but to relieve themselves in public due to lack of toilet facilities on the roads.
For instance, the Brigade Road traffic signal has become a common place for bus crew to urinate. Many a time, road users have seen them urinating against a wall on the narrow road which leads to Garuda Mall.
Peeved by this unhealthy practice, psychologist Dr Dominic Dixon - whose office is located at St Patrick’s complex - took up the matter with BMTC officials. However, when it failed to evoke any response from even Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, Dixon was left with no option but to file a complaint with the Lokayukta for negligence on the part of BMTC officials in providing lavatory facilities to their staff. Consequently, on January 7, the Lokayukta issued a notice to BMTC officials and the Transport minister in this regard.
Dixon told Deccan Herald: “After I saw bus conductors and drivers relieving themselves by the roadside, I went and spoke to one of them. I was told they had no other option. I was very disturbed to see his plight and that of many like him. It is a matter of embarrassment not just for them but for other road users also. I gave my office keys to the person at the BMTC ticket counter so that bus conductors and drivers can use the toilet facility in my office.”
Dixon also approached BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur, who promised to look into the matter.
“No action was taken even after a month and I then spoke to Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who promised action. But even after two and a half months, nothing happened. I had no option, but to approach the Lokayukta,” he said. On a visit to the spot, a conductor and a driver were found urinating there. They said, “It is a big problem for us, but we have no option.”
Female conductors
Female conductors face a bigger plight. They are forced to control the urge till the bus reaches its last destination. One of the drivers narrated the incident wherein a pregnant conductor had developed severe pain as she had nowhere to relieve herself.
With buses providing connectivity from Majestic to far off places such as ITPL, Whitefield, Adugodi and Kadugodi and given the traffic jams, it takes anywhere between one to two-and-a-half hours for a bus to complete a single journey, adding to the woes of the crew.
BMTC officials say that providing toilets is the prerogative of the BBMP and that there are two mobile toilets near Brigade Road.
However, these serve no purpose as they have been installed in the middle of the road, right next to the traffic signal in the green patch with a disadvantageous access. Moreover, the toilets are always locked and there is no outlet for waste disposal. The toilets have come up near the war memorial, which is under the Army’s jurisdiction.
‘No space’
Caur said, “I personally visited the spot along with the BMTC general manager and other officials. The problem is that BMTC has no space to create a facility for our staff. Thus, I wrote to the BBMP commissioner and even met him in this regard.”