A constant complaint at the Chennai airport, is the state of its toilets — those in the old domestic terminal as well as the ones in the international terminal. Every day, passengers fork out thousands of rupees for their fares, part of which goes towards the maintenance of the airport. The airport’s toilets though, are constantly in an abysmal state.
The stench emanating from them has compelled several frequent flyers to do without using them.
“Toilets at the airport here are some of the worst, compared to those in other cities. When Mumbai and New Delhi can maintain their airports so well, why is there a problem here?” asked Ananya Rajan, a frequent flyer from Chennai to Delhi.
Tissues are strewn all over inside the toilets, and dustbins overflow as there is no proper disposal of waste. Often, the soap dispensers don’t work, say several passengers.
“It always smells bad. The authorities could at least spray air-fresheners inside from time to time. I’m forced to do away with using the toilet many times because of the odour,” said a passenger who did not wish to be named. She added that the toilet closets were stained and the seats unclean.
“All of us know about the condition of the toilets here, but we are not able to do anything about it. In fact, even we hesitate to use them,” an airport official said.
Airport director H.S. Suresh said, “While some toilets have already been renovated, some are being done at present. We will see to that the issue is resolved very soon.”
