The existing toilets are too inadequate to serve the city people, observed environmentalists, adding that many pedestrians are forced to defecate by roadside and thus pollute the environment.
According to official enumeration, there are only 37 public toilets under the Dhaka North City Corporation and 61 under the Dhaka South City Corporation while the total population now stands at about 1.5 crore.
Most of the public toilets are unhygienic while some are being used for washing cars, selling water for eateries and storing goods, toilet users have alleged.
In front of Mohakhali DCC kitchen market public toilet, one Minhaz Uddin said for more than an hour he was searching for a toilet.
‘When I got it, there was no water inside and its floor and surroundings were unusable and filthy,’ said Minhaz, who came from Mymeningh.
In front of the Muktangan public toilet, people were seen taking water by jars for a nearby a restaurant.
The surroundings of Gulishtan public toilets were so unhygienic and filthy that people avoid using the toilets.
Faruq Sheikh, a nearby shop owner, said water of the toilets is used to wash vehicles and at night it turns a heaven for drug addicts.
Azimpur public toilet’s caretaker raised a partition inside the toilet to live in and he is living there for many years.
The condition of the public toilets is so dirty that city dwellers, especially women and children, refrain from using them until they get back to their houses or offices, said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Nephrology assistant professor AH Hamid Ahmed.
He told New Age that holding stool for long time causes infection in the bladder wall, leading to complications in the entire urinary system.
Public toilets are not only causing health hazards but also polluting the city roadsides.
Slum dwellers and floating people use open spaces for defecation, mostly for lack of awareness and sometimes for being unable to pay the charges, polluting the environment, said Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan secretary general Abdul Matin.
He said the existing public toilets need to be maintained properly and the government should ensure this service.
Dhaka North City Corporation chief estate officer Fosiullah told New Age that the existing public toilets were built at least 10 years ago and the toilets which were not facing court’s injunction were being maintained and repaired by the city corporations.
Acknowledging the shortage of public toilets for the city dwellers, Fosiullah said they were planning to build new toilets in crowded areas, especially near foot bridges of the capital.
