Poratable toilet booths lined up along the route to an Olympics venue, from West Ham Underground Station, London. It was a 22 mins. walk to the venue. Events organisers had timed the walk.
Agreed, we don’t need to learn from London. But then the chruch at Besant Nagar, and the Chennai corporation, it seems, never learn from anyone, even from their own experience. The pilgrims turnout for the 11-day Velankanni Church festival has been increasing every year. Yesterday ( Saturday), pilgrims who converged in their thousands on Elliot’s beach, to camp there for the mid-night mass at the church, had to make do with a single public toilet in the vicinity. A media report citing a devotee from Chetpet had this to say – “We pay Rs.3 and stand in a queue of 50 to reach the toilet….with just six cubicles each for men and women…. the toilet became unusable by 9 pm….We had to relieve ourselves near the sea”.
Filed under: Chennai
You’re right to complain. Any situation where people are going to have long distances to traverse to arrive at their destination, should have access to adequate toilet facilities — 50 in a queue is much too long — certainly important for women, while men can more easily find discreet ways to relieve themselves.