BENGALURU: Recently, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Pallike constructed a new public toilet on Gubbi Thottadappa Road at Majestic, near Kempegowda Bus Station and the metro station.
But vendors and commuters are asking why there was a need to construct a new one, adjacent to an existing AC toilet, when there is another on the other side of the bus stand on Danvathari Road that is falling apart from neglect. Why not renovate the old one?
Commuters and other users along Danvantari Road say that it is not easy to cross to the other side, particularly because the skywalk is closed for construction.
The new one on Gubbi Thottadappa Road, which is adjacent to the air-conditioned toilet managed by the NGO Vishal International association, can be reached only by running through the busy bus bays.
Stench all Around
Gomati, a flower vendor on Danvantari Road, says,”We don’t have other toilets nearby and we depend on the one at the bus station, but it is so poorly maintained.” Because of the poor state of the facility, many people relieve themselves in the open. A stench hangs over the vicinity and causes much distress to bus drivers and conductors of vehicles parked nearby. Karnataka State Transport Corporation’s long-distance buses park along Danvantari Road.
“We can’t sleep inside the buses because of the foul smell,” says S Subramanya, a KSRTC night-service driver. A foodcart owner Vignesh ML says, “We don’t have toilets on this side of bus station... if we need to use one, we need to walk towards the railway station (on GT Road). BBMP should open a toilet at this side.”