BENGALURU: Of 142 public toilets surveyed by the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC) in the city, 37 were found not functional. Over 58 per cent of the toilets had persistent foul odour and only 56 per cent were adequately lit. Further, water was available in only 40 per cent of the functional toilets and of the total toilets surveyed, only six were rated very clean. B.PAC released the Bengaluru Public Toilet Audit Report 2026, a first-of-its-kind citizen-led assessment of public toilets in Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) limits on Wednesday.
Among the other key highlights of the audit are: only nine toilets have ramps, making nearly 94% inaccessible to persons with disabilities, water was available in only around 40% of functional toilets and none of the toilets had soap dispensers or dustbins. The report further said that only 15% of caretakers are women and that contractor information and user charges were largely missing, limiting public accountability.
B.PAC said the audit, conducted during April and May by its B.CLIP civic leaders and student volunteers, provides a comprehensive assessment of the city’s public sanitation infrastructure, focusing on functionality, hygiene, accessibility, safety and user experience.
Based on the study findings, B.PAC recommends immediate and systemic reforms to improve public sanitation across Bengaluru. It suggested a 30-day emergency repair campaign to restore all non-functional public toilets, create a single Public Toilet Management Cell under GBA for unified planning, monitoring and maintenance. They suggested shifting from ‘Build-Only’ contracts to five-year Operate & Maintain contracts, with strict performance monitoring.
