News Around

By Brij Khandelwal
Agra: Taj Mahal city of Agra, India's biggest tourist attraction, is begging for more toilets. Senior citizens itching to keep the city clean used the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's civil disobedience movement to make the demand.

Complaint was that Agra lacked such facilities, even in places of tourist interest. They demanded that the government build more toilets, particularly for women, and that there should be no charge for using the facilities.

One speaker, Subhash Jha, said public toilets should be built in rural areas too. "There have been cases of women being sexually harassed, even raped, when they went to ease themselves in open," he said. "The women are the worst sufferers."

Others berated the authorities for approving multi-storied structures without checking if they had adequate toilets or sewer treatment plants. Said Surendra Sharma, president of Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society that organized the meet: "Because of lack of toilets, we see the unseemly sight of men and women squatting along railway tracks and roads." People have to pay money to use toilets at railway stations and bus stands. Bankey Lal Maheshwari of Sri Nathji Nishulk Jal Sewa said: "These should be free for commuters."

An office-bearer of Sulabh Shauchalaya, an NGO which runs public toilets across the country, said: "People are culturally addicted to ease in the open even when there are facilities." Agreed Agra resident Satya Narain Goyal: "People avoid using paid public toilets."

For the "toilet revolution" to succeed, the speakers insisted, there would have to be a public toilet after every kilometer and those easing in open should be severely punished.