We are a free democracy. Unlike the jealous American or the European, we Indians probably don't realise the extreme experiences of freedom we are able to live with. We can jump signals, we can spit anywhere, we can honk away to glory, we can throw garbage any and everywhere...the power of 'we can' is mighty high, and we do not even realise it because it has been in our system right from our birth.
So when it comes urinating, well we again can. Thankfully, for our conservativeness, women do not have it in their system. Else, what would have happened if this half from our billion population too joined in!
In Bangalore, innocent signs on walls cry hard to restrict people from urinating. 'Do not urinate here, it will be fined.' 'Urinating is an offence'. Funny it may be, but at least there is an effort.
So when we don't realise the freedom with which we live compared to other countries, we do not even realise the harm that we are causing to ourselves and the society.
The stench of urine is common for Bangalore's hot spots, K R Market and Kempegowda Bus Station (Majestic). There is no chance for one to miss as most of the footpaths near the public buildings are considered as lavatories by people.
In order to curb this menace and keep the city clean, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) passed a resolution in September 2012 to impose penalty of `100 on those who are found spitting, defecating and urinating in public places. Even after passing the resolution, the authorities don't seem to take any action against those who violate the guidelines set in order to maintain a clean city.
"It is disgusting to walk on lanes where people urinate on the roads. It is such a shameful act. According to me, BBMP authorities are abortive as they fail to take any action in order to maintain the city clean. As resolution was passed, the BBMP also took decision to install more number of public toilets. Is it just another fake promise?" questions Sunita, resident of Malleshwaram.
What happened to the implementation of these toilets? S Venkatesh Babu, chairperson of the standing committee for public health, BBMP said, "We had proposed the plan for installing mobile toilets in highly crowded areas like K R Market, Majestic, M G Road and others. It was a model adopted from the developed countries, but the commissioner did not approve due to the financial crunch."
Many cite lack of awareness and education to be some of the reasons for this nuisance. The BBMP health officers seem to be clueless. "In the beginning strict action was taken but I have no idea about mobile public toilets," said S B Nagaraj, health officer.
Though over 126 Nirmala Bengaluru toilets have been set up across the city, people have failed to use these toilets.
Urinating in public, besides tarnishing the city's image is also about indecency and it has a cascading effect on health as well.
According to Dr Raghavendra Venkatesan, a physician from Gutehalli, enteropathogenic problems are widespread in areas where public urination is common. "Stomach-related ailments are also common. Urine is washed away by rains and other people fetch it for domestic use and get infected. After urinating in public area, one doesn’t have the privilege of washing their hands. It is therefore unhygienic. Urine also contains toxins that are harmful to plants," he said.