Chennai, a Smart city without toilets
CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation spent a whopping Rs 39.8 crore on the pedestrian plaza in T Nagar - to construct seven play areas, 126 seaters, swanky street lights among a lot other facilities. But, there is not even a single public washroom in the entire stretch, complain shoppers, hawkers and police personnel.
"Previously, there was a washroom near Aavin (stall), but ever since the construction of the plaza began, it remains shut. Also, there is another washroom inside 'Platform Shop Owners Business Complex', but hawkers from outside are not allowed to use that washroom and it often remains locked," said Valli, a vendor at Pondy Bazaar.
About 50 police personnel, including at least 15 women, patrol the plaza from 2 pm to 9 pm daily. Personnel told Express they are forced to use the washroom inside the restaurants at Pondy Bazaar or walk all the way to Pondy Bazaar police station.
"How is it a smart city if it does not even have toilets? The purpose of the plaza is to promote community gatherings and enable a hassle-free walk for pedestrians. But, for a basic facility like a washroom, we have to go around asking vendors if we can use the restroom inside their shop. Panagal Park public washroom too, located about a kilometre away, is in a pathetic condition. It is embarrassing and extremely uncomfortable for women," said Ramya Rao, a shopper.
Due to this, the management of Chintamani petrol bunk at Pondy Bazaar say they are witnessing more than 100 people coming to use the washroom every day, as against 5 to 10, earlier.
"We shell money for maintenance of the washroom, from our own pocket. Previously, we were spending about Rs 1,000 a month, as it did not require daily cleaning. Now, we are spending Rs 2000 on cleaning alone as all shoppers and vendors are using this washroom. We reported about this issue to corporation officials multiple times, but no action was taken, the manager said.
When contacted, a corporation official said the multi-level car parking coming up in the area within three months will have a public toilet and that they will also repair the washroom near Aavin apart from constructing new ones soon.