This public toilet in Allahabad offers a garden vista!
With a view to encouraging people to use public toilets rather than urinate on walls of public structures, Allahabad is taking an innovative route to fight this old habit.
New, eco-friendly toilet s which look like mini gardens are being designed in the city. This will not only result in a cleaner city free from uninviting sights and smell of stale urine on the walls but also save lakhs of rupees spent on cleaning and repairing of the structures damaged by such thoughtless use.
Finding the public toilet near Gantaghar in deplorable condition, local corporator of Ward No.75, Satyendra Chopra, decided to remodel it with the help of some NGOs. A separate toilet was constructed for women. To create a refreshing new look, flower pots have been placed outside the toilets and flowering plants have been planted in pots to create the ambience of a natural garden
In addition to this, decorations with artificial foliage have been carried out to transform this drab facility into a clean space to mould the conscience of the denizens of the city.
The toilet is surrounded by a steel mesh fence to prevent the entry of stray animals and to check the entry of human beings. “A safai karamchari is posted round-the-clock to keep the place clean and hygienic. This facility is available for a nominal fee of ₹5 to recover the maintenance cost of the facility,” said Satyendra Chopra.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Chopra said, “This experiment is becoming successful as women find it convenient to use this facility. A daily a collection of ₹100 to 150 has been reported from this complex. We are remodelling another public toilet in the lane of famous shop of Dakhilal Chunalal in the busy Johnstanganj locality. This would be a better version of the one remodelled in Gantaghar area. We have already started growing plants and flowers on the toilet premises.”
Chopra said in the third phase they would remodel the public toilets behind the Naaz cinema in Chowk area. “This transformation was not easy as traders protested the construction of public toilets in the centre of the market,” he added.
However, this idea is catching on and getting the support and co-operation from the people of the city. After all, why should one urinate on the walls in the open when one can do it in the privacy of a garden toilet!