On the occasion of World Toilet Day on Friday, the dismal state of affairs of over 180 public and community toilets of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation, located in the 55 wards of five circles including Jharia, Dhanbad, Sindri, Katras and Chhatatand, has come into the focus. Many of them are lying locked while others are not in use due to lack of water, broken taps and other factors.

Worst is the situation of over 67 modular toilets constructed more than three years ago, majority of which are lying closed ever since their establishment.

Expressing disgust over the situation, social activist and president of Jharkhand Rickshaw Mazdoor Union, Prem Bachchan Das, said, “Only 30% of the toilets are in functional state while majority are in extremely bad shape.” He added that the lackasical attituide of the civic authorities can be gauged by the fact that DMC instead of operating the toilets, has opened its office in one of the community toilets at Digwadih in Jharia.

Echoing similar sentiments, Prabhat Surolia, president of Bank More Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “The pathetic state of affairs can be assumed from the fact that the Bank More area which serves as the commercial hub of town and houses large shops and commercial establishments is devoid of even a single toilet and instead some open urinals situated near the Bank More office of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation are also lying in poor condition due to lack of maintenance”

“We have been demanding installation of modular toilets instead of urinals since long but to no avail, said Surolia adding that though the toilets are situated in the market complex like Rajendra Market or Shanti Bhavan in Bank More, they are redundant for the visitors as they are located inside the complex and very few people are aware about their location.

Notably out of around 180 toilets, majority of 45 public toilets managed by Sulabh International are relatively in better condition while 68 community toilets managed by Dhanbad Municipal Corporation are in dipidated shape. The situation of Modular toilets are no better as majority of them are lying closed.

Arjun Ram, Sanitary Inspector of the Dhanbad Circle of DMC said, “Users are also responsible for these conditions as the taps or flush are broken by users or sometimes by anti social elements making them irrelevent.”