Just imagine how 830 persons could use only 13 toilets daily. That too, when these are all kept in a very bad condition.

It is not merely an imagination, but a real plight of the 227 families kept in the Sri Lankan refugee camp at Naranammalpuram near Tirunelveli, according to a report in a leading English daily today ! The 13 toilets - 7 for men and 6 for women - are also kept without proper maintenace and with broken drainage channels. The appalling state of the toilets has increased open defecation in the camp.

But this is not the case only with refugee camps. It is a 'loo'ming problem in any public place, like bus terminals, railway stations, cinema halls, shopping malls, schools etc. School children are the most affected-ones as most of the schools do not have toilet facility, or even if they have ones they are not clean and tidy. By avoiding dirty and filthy toilets, children develop urinery related health problems. The situation remains the same in almost all the populous cities in the country.

In Chennai city also there are not enough public toilets. Besides, they are also not in useable condition. Considering the grotesque sights and smells one would have to endure, even in a 'pay-and-use' toilet, the average Chennaiite prefers to relieve himself or herself behind a lamp post or a parked vehicle. If a public toilet is filthy and difficult to access, why won't the people relieve themselves in the open areas, even if that is against law? Because of this, the threat wield out by the civic body that anyone caught defecating in public would be fined from April 1 could not be carried out.

To overcome the problem to some extent, and also to keep up its promise of making the city as 'Singara Chennai', Chennai Corporation is planning to build 60 toilets on arterial roads in the city and 12 along the Marina beach.

Not just Chennai, the entire country is hit by toilet-scarcity. According to UNICEF, India lagged behind even Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in providing basic sanitation facilities. A mere 14 per cent of rural India had access to toilets in 1990 and this number improved to 28 per cent in 2006, whereas the figure is more in respect of our neighbouring countries.

Having advanced in many respects, we should not lag behind in solving this basic 'stinking' problem.

To day (November 20) being World Toilet Day, let's pledge to have good public toilets !

R B