As it is we already live in a very polluted environment
DADU: In other countries one can find public toilets at bus terminals, shopping malls and public buildings but only the lucky ones can find a suitable and usable public toilet in Sindh, and in Pakistan in general. Whether you live in Karachi, Hyderabad or Sukkur, or you travel from Larkana to Karachi and vice-versa you will hardly find any public toilet in between. Rather, what ones finds are dirty and privacy-vulnerable toilets at Karachi bus terminals. These toilets are in a very poor condition with broken doors, rusted water taps tied up with rubber bands, and filthy mugs. Due to the unavailability of public toilets, women and children suffer the most as men can manage to relieve themselves in bushes and other isolated places, which is quite embarrassing and ethically shameful. Above all, open defecation causes environmental pollution. Unfortunately, according to media reports, these existing toilets have been constructed from private donations as the government does not have the budget to finance the construction and maintenance of toilets, nor does the government have any plan to construct such public facilities in the near future. The government of Sindh should be serious about this issue in order for common citizens to avoid embarrassing situations in public. Apart from that, common hygiene should be enforced. As it is we already live in a very polluted environment.
Toilets in government hospitals are very dirty, where patients and their attendants are compelled to go for want of better facilities. One fails to understand what keeps the government from providing such basic facilities like toilets at public places.
Mehboob Ali Laghari
Published in The Express Tribune, January 8th, 2020.
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