Srinagar, July 26: People especially females have expressed concern over lack of public toilets in the summer capital.
With authorities announcing to make Srinagar a model city under the Smart City Project, lack of public toilets at important places raises question marks.
Besides busy places in Srinagar, even most of the malls and shopping complexes are without toilets. “Lack of toilets at public places in city causes inconvenience to ladies. It is suprising that despite being summer capital and main hub for tourist activities, Srinagar lacks public toilets in general and for women in particular,” said Saba a Srinagar resident.
“There are public toilets after every two kilometers in other parts of the country. But Srinagar has few and that too either closed or in shabby condition. This shows non-seriousness of local authorities towards Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiated in 2014 by Government of India,” said Farzana another city resident.
Although Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) officials have been claiming that many public toilets exist in Srinagar, but residents especially women said, there is a need for construction of more women-specific toilets.
Tourists often face inconvenience while travelling in Srinagar without proper public toilets
“No one is taking note of this issue. It is one of the important components that will make Srinagar a Smart City. People often hesitate to let commuters use their washrooms due to privacy and health concerns” said Nimrah, a local.
Despite many attempts, SMC Commissioner didn’t respond to call for his comments on the issue.
To mention, the Smart City Mission was launched by Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) GoI in which 100 cities were to be selected for urban renewal and retrofitting with the objective to promote cities, that provide core infrastructure, give a decent quality of life to their citizens and apply smart solutions to improve services and infrastructure.