Tarun Karthick
Campbell Bay, 11 October 2021
Public Toilets have been built all across Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the convenience of the general public and to stop open defecation. There are numerous public toilets in Campbell Bay at different places which were constructed to serve the local community. Most of the toilets at Campbell Bay are non-functional or are in a very bad state.
Nicobar Times visited several public toilet blocks constructed in Campbell Bay as well as nearby areas and found that these toilet blocks are not maintained properly.
One toilet block located at Rajiv Nagar 1 Km on the East-West Road had no taps. There is no facility of water except a tank constructed outside the toilet block which gets filled on the mercy of rain.
Most of the toilet units in this particular toilet block were locked. The fixtures such as toilet flush tanks were broken. Bushes were growing inside the toilet block.
Another toilet block located in the same locality, but inside the colony was in a horrible state. The door of the toilet block was broken, the complete floor was covered with algae and dirt. The taps inside the toilet units leaked water and it seemed like the toilet has not been cleaned after it was constructed. The residents informed us that this particular block is being used by many households nearby, but due to lack of maintenance, they face a lot of problems every day. The residents also informed that water is supplied once in two days to the toilet block, but because of leaking toilet taps, the tank gets empty in a matter of hours.
GP Campbell Bay constructed a toilet block right in the middle of Campbell Bay Bazaar for the convenience of the shoppers and shopkeepers, but this toilet block is non-functional for months and the authorities are not at all concerned. The local shopkeepers of the area informed Nicobar Times that the toilet has no electricity and no water for months. They added that more than Rs. 20 lakhs has been spent in the construction of the said toilet block, but even after multiple complaints, the authorities have not restored the water supply to the toilet block because of which it is not in use.
Every day hundreds of residents visit Campbell Bay Bazaar and they face issues because of this non-functional toilet block.
Nicobar Times also inspected the toilet block constructed at Indira Nagar under GP Campbell Bay and found one portion of the block locked. The other portion also had the lock on, but the latch was broken. The toilet block was in perfect condition, but the water tank had a thick layer of algae deposit. The residents informed that the block is always kept under lock and key as everyone has constructed their own toilets.Â
The irony is that we spend crores of rupees in constructing toilets, but the general public still faces problems because of the non-maintenance of such assets.