Public toilet, now a storeroom

BANGALORE: One of the responsibilities of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is to construct as many toilets as possible to prevent the people from converting public places into open toilets.But what can be said of the BBMP when it itself converts a public toilet into a store room? The civic body had spent money to construct a public toilet to avoid any nuisance near Jalahalli Police Station.The toilet was very convenient for the people to attend to nature calls and avoid any nuisance around the police station. However, the civic authorities shut the toilet just after a few months."The civic body is authorised to impose penalty on those who create nuisance at public places. It is quite disgusting to see the civic body shut down the toilet,’’ said V Ramachandra from Ramachandrapuram who came to visit a nearby hotel.The BBMP authorities have converted the toilet as a storeroom. One can see plastic bins and brooms dumped in the toilet."We are using it to keep plastic bins and brooms since it was shut down for the last few years,’’ says a BBMP official.Meanwhile, R Narayanaswamy, Corporator of Jalahalli said that the BBMP had closed the public toilet due to lack of water.“The BBMP had dug up a borewell a few years ago to supply water to the toilet. With the borewell becoming dry, it became tough for the BBMP to maintain the toilet,’’ explains Narayanaswamy.However the public are not ready to agree with the Corporator.“We know Narayanaswamy has done a lot for the development of Jalahalli and surrounding areas but it is not fair for the BBMP authorities to close down the public toilet. The BBMP should take measures to dig one more borewell or arrange water supply from other borewells at a nearby areas,’’ said Ramappa.Narayanaswamy has said that he had already sent a proposal to the BBMP to dig a borewell to supply water to the toilet."I have already requested the BBMP Commissioner to sanction one more borewell near the public toilet. I am expecting the Commissioner to do the needful,’’ said the Corporator.