Haryana Govt declares Gurugram free of open defecation... citizens think otherwise

Gurugram: On October 2, Haryana government declared Gurugram as one of the few cities of India that is open defecation free. While the state agencies is actively promoting it as a major achievement in a city of 20 lakh people, most of the residents do not seems to be impressed by the claim.

Ever since the announcement has been made, residents 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 in the city like MG road and Golf Course road, lack of public toilets continues to be a major problem in the city.

While officials at MCG have claimed that they are setting up the public toilets on a large scale, most of the residents do not agree with claims.

"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 at MG road 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, the city resident.

"A major problem of 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.