Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you need to relieve yourself but there is no clean public bathroom nearby. If you’re in in the city or along the coast, you have a tough time trying to locate a public loo.
The few public bathrooms, located near the town bus stands are not used much by the public, creating desperate moments for those who happen to be in the city and want to empty their bladder.
In order to address this issue, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) recently issued directions to all hotels, restaurants and eateries in its jurisdiction to make their washrooms accessible to the public from April 1. The move would allow anyone with five rupees to access washrooms in even five-star hotels of South Delhi. SDMC said the move would make more than four thousand toilets accessible to the public. The hotels and restaurants have also been directed to put up display boards informing the public about the facilities.
Restaurant managements in Delhi, however, reacted with skepticism, with the trade association saying it was wrong to force the move on them.
In Goa, this announcement was met with mixed reactions among the restaurateur community and the public. Goa has a vast shoreline, we see tourists, domestic and foreign, spending hours on the beaches, or travelling through the state. But there are hardly any places to relieve yourself apart from the mostly filthy Sulabh Toilets in certain areas.
The debate on social media, questioned if this is the right solution to a common problem and if the authorities should have instead resorted to alternate solution such as constructing the required numbers of public toilets. Questions have also been raised about how this can affect the operations of restaurants in Goa, if such a move is indeed implemented in Goa. Will customers be comfortable knowing that anyone can use the bathrooms? Will it boost the tourism industry especially across the coastal belt with the lack of bathrooms and changing rooms available to tourists?
So is this a viable option or do we need our government to start creating more public restrooms and not put the pressure on the tourism industry?
