Public toilets free in city, but only on paper

In mid-April, the BMC had made public toilets in the city free until further orders, but most continue to charge, even though the civic body compensates the organisations that run these toilets on contract.

Nanda Wankhede says her local public toilet in Oshiwara charges much more than it did earlier, now during the lockdown. She is unaware that they are supposed to be free. Wankhede is a domestic help who is struggling to have enough food to go by in her home. For using the public toilet, her family manages to pay with money they had saved to go to their native. They even borrow from neighbours, too ashamed to be sent back by public toilet staff if they cannot pay. “Free me jane do bola toh bhaga denge (they will chase us away if we point it is free),” says Saeeda Shaikh, also a domestic help whose income has dwindled. She too did not know that public toilets are now free and cannot believe they could be allowed to use it free of cost. On April 16, the civic body had announced that the pay-and-use public toilets in the city would be free until further notice. This was done for the convenience of migrant workers and urban poor who would find it difficult to pay during the period, having lost their livelihood.

Most supervisors of public toilets managed by contractors, however, say they still operate as they used to before. Some say they do not demand but accept money if someone pays. The problem lies in the civic body making the service free, but not compensating the organisations that run these toilets.

They have to pay their water, electricity bills and staff salaries, contractors say. The cost of running a public toilet comes to around Rs 45,000 per month. “Our staff are working during this pandemic by risking their lives,” says Ravindra Sogam of Sai Meghanathkrida Mandal which runs a public toilet in Sarvodaya Nagar, Jogeshwari. Patients with Coronavirus too come there, he says. “Cleaning toilets is dirty work, how can we expect the workers to do it for free? They will leave the work,” he said.