CUTTACK: Poor maintenance of the community toilet at SCB medical college and hospital has left patients and their attendants disgruntled as they are unable to use it for the fear of contracting infection.
Sources said the lavatory complex has separate enclosures with 10 toilets and bath facilities each for men and women. Though an outsourcing agency, Manju Services, has been entrusted the task of maintaining the lavatory for the last almost seven years, its unclean condition speaks of a different story altogether.
While many toilets do not have doors, the entire complex remains waterlogged and stinky almost all the time. This apart, the basins set up inside the lavatory are also lying dirty and defunct. Moreover, the toilets becomes inaccessible during the night as the light system has been lying non-functional for the last four years.
In such a situation, attendants have no other choice than to relieve themselves in the open. Many prefer to go to the Mahanadi river bank for the purpose and this again increases the issue of river pollution.
“Using the uncleaned toilets and bathrooms may lead to various types of infections. So, we prefer to go to the Mahanadi river bank for attending nature’s call and bathing,” said a patient’s attendant Ramakanta Khuntia.
Social activist Suresh Mohanty said though the outsourcing agency concerned gets paid to maintain the lavatory, it has failed to even provide the basic services like cleanliness and hygiene in the toilets. he further urged the hospital authorities to look into the matter.
Efforts to elicit a response from SCB superintendent Dr Lucy Das on the issue proved futile.