A public toilet in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 18: For those commuters who feel a sudden need to answer nature’s call while on the move, relief is still a far cry.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s plan to set up around 87 public and community toilets across the city is yet to materialise due to delay in land allotment.

Officials in the corporation said that though land for 50 toilets had been earmarked at various places, these plots had not been provided to them as yet, and so they were unable to start work.

They hadn’t even started the process to float tenders because of the land hurdle.

In the case of the 37 other toilets, the general administration department, which owns all government land, has not made any move to earmark plots. Contacted, officials of the general administration department refused to comment on the issue.

City engineer T.B.K. Shroff said the corporation had planned to set up 27 public toilets at various strategic locations, markets and crowded places for the public and 60 community toilets at several slums in the city to discourage open defecation.

“The plan had been finalised last year. We are going to start work on it as soon as the plots are handed over to us,” said Shroff.

Officials said the project would be undertaken with funds provided by various agencies. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an international non-government organisation, will invest Rs 6.09 crore for the toilet projects. Of this, Rs 4.46 crore will be spent on building the 87 public and community toilets. The rest of the money will go towards upkeep of these facilities.

The Japan International Corporation Agency (Jica), a funding agency of the Government of Japan, will also spend Rs 3.72 crore on the toilets.

“We are going to float tenders for the 27 public toilets in the near future. The construction will start after the plots are provided to us,” said a corporation official. He said that after the construction had been completed, the corporation would float another tender for operating and maintaining the toilets.

At present, the city, which has a population of over 9 lakh, has about 50 public toilets at various places. These are managed by several organisations. Corporation officials said around 19 toilets were managed by Sulabh International, a private body. But residents allege that these toilets are not managed properly.

However, Sulabh International officials refused to comment.

“If more public toilets come up at central locations where many people gather, it will help people a lot,” said Umamani Rout, a resident of Unit-II.