(Photograph above courtesy Times of India, Kolkata edition, March 31, 2024)
The nation’s and West Bengal’s pride, the East-West Metro running under the Hooghly River, has literally raised a stink within two weeks of the inauguration of its 4.8 km stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade. For those unfamiliar with Kolkata metro’s geography, the East-West metro is a 16.6 kilometre route between Howrah Maidan and Phoolbagan, of which 10.8 kilometres is an underground stretch that includes a 520-metre tunnel passing 30 metres under the Hooghly River. The much-anticipated opening day saw over 70,000 commuters enjoying their first experience of an underwater metro passage. Since then, the daily average passenger load appears to have settled to about 50,000.
Just a week into its inauguration, newspapers carried pictures and reports about commuters spitting out paan and gutkha on to the brand new floors and walls of the metro stations. Really shameful, to say the least. These walking – spitting hazards should be caught and made to clean up the place on the spot and punished for defacing public property; but like all our problems about which we cry hoarse, this too lacks an effective enforcement mechanism. Immediate and hefty fines must be instituted to deter commuters from dirtying the metro stations and trains.
A week later, clogged toilets in the four metro stations of the underground stretch raises even a bigger stink. Toilets do not normally clog if a they are used as toilets. They usually clog when they are used as garbage bins in addition to being used as toilets. Don’t we know the difference between toilets and dustbins, or do we simply not care? I strongly suspect it is the latter because however uninformed, uneducated or careless a person may be, their home toilets don’t get clogged this way. It is just that as citizens, we have not assumed ownership of public property. Ruining public property is rampant in India and just nobody seems interested – not the citizen, not the administration, not the politician.
Not all the blame, however, can be placed at the doorstep of the commuter. The people and organisations connected with the building of the metro railway must also bear responsibility for poor planning. The 4.8 kilometre stretch that was inaugurated has four metro stations, each having only three toilets, one for men, one for women and one for people with disabilities. The toilet sizes are very small for their intended purpose and range from 3.6 sq. m to 6 sq. m; the largest one being at Howrah. Is this some kind of a joke? Three cubby-hole toilets for a daily passenger rush of 50,000 commuters? This underground stretch has come at a public cost of Rs 4965 crores as per open source information. I am sure a little more could have been spent on passenger and public conveniences. After all, it is a mass ‘public’ transport system.
Coming to the larger issue of public hygiene and sanitation – it is little wonder that we, as a country, have always figured in the bottom twenty countries in the Human Development Index, year after year. The first reason for this is civic behaviour. We are just not ‘potty-trained’ well enough in the larger sense of the term. People urinate on the wall next to my house, on one of Kolkata’s main thoroughfares, despite my best efforts at trying to divert them to the nearest public toilet. This ‘stand on the road and pee’ is a national disease that needs to be eradicated by those in power and authority.
Second, our penchant for littering anywhere and everywhere is as legendary as it is irritating. Whether it is throwing trash on the streets or spitting in public places, we do it without even batting an eyelid – as if it is a public entitlement. “My right to litter; somebody else’s problem to clean up my mess”, sums up our public attitude.
Third, there does not seem to be any urgency to clean up the stink, at least in Kolkata. I happened to meet a local politician at a function and when I mentioned to him that much could be done to clean up the city, his response was “Our city is cleaner than many in the country – there is no problem.” When there is a complete refusal to acknowledge the existence of a problem, there is no hope of a solution.
Fourth, municipal corporations, gram panchayats and other civic bodies must be suitably enabled with funds, human resource, equipment and other wherewithal, not just to keep areas under their charge clean but also to enforce strict fines for dirtying or defacing public property. They must be held accountable for efficient delivery of public services and heads must roll for poor performance. Basic public hygiene and the right to live in a clean environment should be the reason for citizens to vote parties into power or out of it.
Fifth, the number of public toilets and waste-bins across the length and breadth of the country, especially in crowded cities, needs to be enhanced exponentially. In their absence, the entire city, town or village becomes a garbage dump. More importantly, there needs to be sustainable and efficient mechanisms to keep these public conveniences clean, including round-the-clock waste removal from targeted areas such as marketplaces, railway stations, public parks, food courts and hawking zones.
Establishment owners, operators and hawkers must be directed, under pain of heavy financial penalties, to keep their own surroundings clean. Public toilets must be run by social welfare organisations like ‘Sulabh International’, with funding support through municipal corporations. ‘Pay-and-use’ must be the norm in order to run them in a sustainable manner. Inspections and enforcement by authorities is an absolute necessity if we wish to see any visible improvement.
For all the good intentions of the Swachh Bharat campaign, it has not yet proved to be the game-changer as envisioned by the Prime Minister. It is time all governments, local bodies and citizens’ groups started taking the campaign seriously with renewed vigour. If there is one area in which our country must focus, it is public hygiene and sanitation, above everything else – even ahead of health, education, science and technology. It will address the very foundation of social upliftment and public welfare. Existing schemes such as MGNREGA, with their huge financial outlays, could be channelised in support of cleaning up our country.
If we as citizens, do not take ownership of public places, public facilities and public conveniences, Swachh Bharat will remain just a hollow slogan.
Public Toilets are meant to be dirty in this country. How many clean public toilets have we come accross even if they charge 5/- for urinal. Kolkata Airport toilets are dirty and depends on the mood of the cleaner. You can never have swachch bharat. Toilet culture should be taught in primary school curriculums.
That’s a far cry from the glory days when the Metro made its debut in Kolkata – used to be the cynosure of everyone’s eyes…it remained impeccable for quite some time and set the bar for other Metros that followed…somehow even the planners seemed to have missed a trick here with the paltry number of toilets…
Interestingly, most people who merrily ‘raise the stink’ here become model citizens abroad… abundant public toilets, bins, disposal and education – all have to play their part to raise standards in lieu of the stink, I suppose…
Drilled down, down to earth and forces us to smell the coffee .. no no the stink!
Maybe there is room for a 6th point- PPP ( public private partnership) where personal products and hygiene companies could join hands with the municipal corporation wards and arm the health and sanitation workers appropriately. We as citizens should also not get away with it.
Excellent idea. Needs to be fleshed out. Will the government take the first step? Or the companies?
“I create the garbage or waste, dump wherever I want but it is authorities responsibility to ensure cleanliness” appears to be common refrain for the inhabitants of the oldest surviving civilisation in the present days. Cleanliness was always part of our culture as can be seen in many household even in remotest area where everything is ‘spic and span’ but common and public spaces the story becomes different or shall I say indifferent. If each one of us take a vow to ensure we do not cause litter, and our immediate surrounding is clean, the coming generation will automatically emulate this act and may be then India can become ‘Swachh Bharat’. Creating less waste will go a long way in keeping the surroundings clean. 30 Mar is celebrated as the ‘International No Waste Day’ about which many of us are not even aware. Well written Sir.
Very well written Sir. It is sad but true.
We don’t see this as a problem and we just dont seem to care.
Need to educate public and have a roving patrol to catch offenders who spit and litter and levy heavy fines. That’s the only way some citizens will learn, in my opinion.
You have highlighted a perennial problem sir……adequacy of toilets and washrooms should have addressed at the planning stage itself!!….. Such a shame about the spitting and public urination…..stringent penalties are the only way out……very well articulated thoughts sir..
I remember seeing Kolkata metro in early 1990s as a one of the cleanest public place. All citizens of Calcutta (then) took immense pride in this metro, which was unique in India. Sad to know that this feeling of pride seems to have gone off.
You are doing a great job of flagging the issue very strongly.
Very true Sir, hygiene and sanitation is a huge problem in our country which needs to be tackled on a war footing. I think the answer lies in perhaps, following the Indore model of sanitation. Indore has for the record seventh time come first in Swachh Survekshan rankings. What Indore does differently is that one, the Indore municipal corporation has invested heavily in upgrading the public sanitation infrastructure which includes construction of public toilets in dense population areas like railway stations bus stands n slums etc.Two, the waste is segregated in six categories unlike two in most big cities where where only dry n wet waste is separated.
Three, the corporation has constructed a huge bio CNG plant for treatment which is run on wet waste. This plant has become a money spinner producing CNG to power 150 buses. Four, the Corporation has absorbed all the city’s rag pickers into it’s force called Safai Mitras, who work in three shifts for door to door collection of waste. Fifth is aggressive public awareness campaigns in collaboration with NGO’s for sensitisation and last but not the least, heavy fines for offenders for spitting n urinating in public places which is being strictly enforced.
That’s very interesting and I wonder why other cities can’t implement the same. I am staying near Regal Cinema and there’s litter here everywhere. The municipal cleaners do the job but it reappears with vengeance. Squatters are a problem. Need legal enforcement and lots of public clean hygienic toilets.,
Errant users should be made an example of. Public shaming and the like
Nice way to wake up our system of governance exposing the reality being faced by the public. The responsibility of people in power/chairs utilising the exchequer’s money does not end at fanfare of inauguration, rather it starts that day to monitor the success or failure of project in all aspects. Sanitation being the often neglected one everywhere in our country.
Very nicely brought out dear Dashu. Hope favourably positive response and appropriate actions get initiated. Jai Hind
Very true sir. Enforcement the problem everywhere , For citizens – Awareness of our own duties and responsibilities. And for every enforcement agency – to do their duty with firm commitment – no fear or favour, no playing favours. And Leadership exemplary