When the Greater Chennai Corporation installed four toilets on a section of Bharathi Salai — also known as Pycrofts Road — it seemed to have bestowed upon this area, a long-awaited boon.
With the presence of a government hospital, pavement sales of old books and a warren of shops, this section has many visitors and is busy through the day. Also, a slum is found in its vicinity.
Two of these toilets are unusable due to lack of water and electricity and maintenance.
At the Bells Road junction in Triplicane, a damaged urinal greets visitors. Even if you don’t want to set eyes on the stained walls of the urinal with a damaged door, you are forced to, as buses come to a halt near the facility. A few steps further, you come upon another urinal, which is equally bad. Heaps of garbage are found around it.
A set of two toilets is located a few metres away. This facility functions on a pay-and-use model. With cars almost always parked in front of it, access is a problem.
On the same stretch, close to Kamarajar Salai, there is a modern toilet. As it is near the beach, the facility should logically be of benefit to joggers and walkers. As it is closed in the morning, the toilet cannot be accessed.
Palani Velu, who runs a second-hand book shop on the pavement near Bells Road, says: “The stink from the toilets makes me sick.” “These toilets must either be removed or maintained properly,” says Jaya Aishwarya Ravi, a resident of Triplicane.
