BENGALURU: Vehicle congestion, demanding customers, tough trip targets... The hundreds of cab drivers employed with app-based aggregators and other private operators in the city have an endless list of woes. Somewhere in their long list of complaints lies buried the lack of public restrooms.
With over 1,70,000 cabs plying in the city, and the number increasing every day, cab drivers make a sizeable population that’s out on the roads every day. Most of them work for 14-16 hours daily to complete rides and make the maximum amount of money. Forced to relieve themselves on the roadside or use unclean public toilets, the drivers say lack of enough washrooms poses a big challenge to them every hour. Many of them even spend the night in their vehicle, and make do with a quick wash before starting work the next morning.
“The need for people to use public transport and cab facilities is increasing every day,” P Harishekaran, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said. “Most drivers work round the clock and find it difficult to find a place to defaecate. Most of them urinate on the roadside, which is unhygienic. Cab owners should find a solution to this.”
Drivers say difficulty in finding public restrooms while they are in the middle of a ride remains a source of tension for them. “We generally don’t know the destination until we enter the One-time Password of the customer. It is difficult to find the nearest toilet in any area, and we seldom have enough time to reach the pickup spot. This is why we are forced to relieve ourselves on the roadside,” a driver with cab aggregator Ola, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
Another driver pointed out that the ill-maintained toilets also pose a health risk to them. “Most of them are dirty and have no water facility. We can’t go back home just to use the toilet,” he said, adding that drivers should demand clean public toilets as well as bath shelters.
A recent crowdfunding campaign launched by Ola to address the issue may come as welcome news for them. The firm is asking its customers to contribute Rs 1 over the next six months, and has partnered with the non-profit organisation, Gramalaya, to use the collected amount to build toilets for the underprivileged.
“Ola has been committed to supporting causes that impact our cities and citizens, and access to toilets and sanitation can significantly improve hygiene and quality of people for life. Through this campaign, we aim to heighten awareness amongst audiences and enable them to contribute meaningfully,” Anand Subramanian, senior director, Marketing Communications, said in a statement.