Loo behold! Swaach Bharat toilet shocks sanitisation campaigner

Bengaluru: A few years ago, on her way to Bengaluru from Sakleshpur, Archana K R, a sanitisation campaigner working with Solve Ninja, went to relieve herself at a public toilet at National Highway- 75, built under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan scheme and was so horrified by the stench and dirt that she started an online campaign demanding clean and functional toilets for women. "I cannot never forget what I saw inside a bucket in a toilet on National Highway 75 in Karnataka. I had expected to see water in the bucket as any normal person would. Algae and larvae, or simply put, the eggs of worms and mosquitoes breeding on the water surface. So you can imagine my disgust. I raced out, unable to use the toilet. And suppressed the urge to urinate for the remainder of the journey," she states in her online petition.

Toilets can be dangerous places for spread of all sorts of diseases and viruses, especially when they are infested with mosquitoes. If there is one place that little or no attention has been paid is: toilets.

A month ago, on her way to Bengaluru from Sakleshpur, Archana K R, a sanitisation campaigner working with Solve Ninja, went to relieve herself at a public toilet at National Highway- 75, built under Swacch Bharat Abhiyan scheme and was so horrified by the stench and dirt. She was so aghast at the terrible condition in the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan toilet that she started an online campaign demanding clean and functional toilets for women.

"I cannot never forget what I saw inside a bucket in a toilet on National Highway 75 in Karnataka. I had expected to see water in the bucket as any normal person would. Algae and larvae, or simply put, the eggs of worms and mosquitoes breeding on the water surface. So you can imagine my disgust. I raced out, unable to use the toilet. And suppressed the urge to urinate for the remainder of the journey," she stated in her online petition.

In a stretch of 350 kilometers, 42 toilets abound on the way. Of these, at least 14 fall under the Swacch Bharat Mission. Archana remarked that all the 42 toilets are in ann appalling condition.

It has also come to light that some of the toilets were being used for illegal activities.

"There were no sign-boards or demarcations of toilets for men or women. There were no lights inside or outside. I had to use the light on my cellphone to find my way. Inside was a different kind of hell. Doors with broken locks, missing taps, broken commodes, no mug, soap or a dustbin; a pile of soiled sanitary napkins rotting away in a corner," she told The Hans India.

Archana says women are damned whether they use such toilets or not. "If we force ourselves to use the facility, we are exposing ourselves to infection. Women like me who cannot get themselves to use these toilets, end up suppressing the urge to urinate. When we do this for long periods - like say six-hour journey I take twice a week - we risk contracting urinary tract infection, which if not treated can lead to sepsis and death," she adds. On dialing the National Highway Authority of India helpline she was shouted at for complaining about the toilet. In her recent findings it was found that Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) uses the toilets as a store room. "I just want to thank the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi for his vision on Swacch Bharat. I have received 1.3 lakh signatures on my online petition that was started in 2018. For the past years I have been asking the NHAI and Swacch Bharat Mission to provide clean and safe toilets for women on NH-75," she said.