Bengaluru: Only Rs. 1,300 as fine collected for public urination?
Just when girls and women are demanding for toilets to be built at home, men urinating in public is quite a common sight. Now, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has managed to collect just Rs 1,300 as fine from such men in a whole year. Total number of men fined? 5, that's right! "It depends entirely on chance," BBMP officials defended themselves.
'Why fine? Just build more toilets'
Why fine? Just build more toilets - civic experts feel this is a better solution. "Officials are able to penalize violators only if they happen to catch them in the act... We must ensure there are enough toilets," said N S Ramakanth, member, BBMP expert committee on solid waste. Right now, the city has 473 public toilet complexes and 2,838 public toilet seats.
Not just toilets, 'behavioral change is also required'
While a survey by NGO Janaagraha did find that the city falls short by over 1,000 toilets, civic body officials feel that a change of mentality is necessary. We couldn't agree more. "We can't ask people to walk 3-kms to access a toilet. Some infrastructure needs to be in place. However, behavioral change is also required," said V Ramprasad, solid waste management expert.
2,500 toilets are getting constructed: BBMP official
In their defense, BBMP official said that 2,500 toilets are getting constructed. But would it solve anything? In February'18, Rajasthan's health minister Kalicharan Saraf was seen urinating in public surprisingly after attending a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan programme, who later said 'it's not a big deal'. In the same month BJP MP from Rewa, Janardhan Misra was seen cleaning a clogged toilet with bare hands.
