MillenniumPost
Delhi

Half of public toilets in Gurugram still non-functional

Gurugram: On October 2, the Haryana government had declared Gurugram as one of the few cities of India that was free from open defecation.
Realities on the ground, however, tell a different story.
Over hundred toilets were set up by the Gurugram civic body, but most of it are now locked and out of reach for public.
Interestingly as it is, those public toilets are not in the far flung areas but in the densely populated and posh localities of the city.
Some of these areas are MG road, Civil Lines, Sector -15 and Gurugram bus stand.
While there has been no official stand on why most of the toilets are not being opened for public, sources indicated that there has been no proper budget allocation for the maintenance of the toilets.
For a city that is preparing to improve its rankings as far as cleanliness is concerned, people can still be viewed relieving themselves in posh localities of MG road and Golf Course road.
There have also been complaints that lack of toilets is resulting in most of labourers openly defecating in vacant areas especially in Sectors 37, 46, 39, 45, where lot of construction activities are taking place.
While public agencies have been actively promoting the feat achieved by the city of being ODF, its residents do not seem to be quite impressed by the claims.
Ever since the announcement has been made, residents of the Millennium City have taken to social media and have been lambasting the state agencies of not knowing the ground situation.
While there have been large numbers of portable toilets that have been built, it has not proved to be enough for the high number of migrant population present in the city.
The stench in the streets of Gurugram is not expected to end soon as shortage of public toilets continues to be a major challenge in the city.
Tasked with the responsibility of setting up public toilets, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) continues to face the challenge of not getting land across different sectors in the city.
With MCG not getting land in the densely populated areas of the city, it is mostly opening public toilets near the surrounding villages that is not been frequented on a large numbers by passerby's.
Meanwhile, not only in the sectors but also in posh public areas like MG road and Golf Course road, lack of public toilets continues to be a major problem in the city.
There is no denying the fact that Gurugram is woefully short of toilets.
"Even in areas like MG Road that is well known for its malls, offices and residential societies, there are certain areas where the stench caused due to lack of public toilets is completely unbearable. Further, the levels of maintenance and cleanliness in most of the public toilets continue to be in an abysmal state," said Rahul Kapoor, a city resident.
"The major problem for lack of public toilets is faced by women. It's unfortunate that even as there have been certain toilets that have built by residential and market societies in city, no attention has been paid towards building women toilets," added Kapoor
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