HUBBALLI: For the first time on World Toilet Day, a city-based organisation sat on dharna in Hubballi urging for the making of adequate free-of-cost toilets and their maintenance.
Veerappa Arkeri, the president of the Basava Art, Technical and Recycling Museum, urged city authorities to make as many public toilets in Hubballi city as possible.
Over 90 toilets in Hubballi city were free of cost earlier, but for various reasons, the toilets started charging a small amount for usage.
Many of the public e-toilets are defunct because of poor maintenance and negligence by the authorities. Arkeri said the authorities should take stern action and ensure that public toilets are made for the convenience of the public and that they should be free of cost.
In market areas, there are public urinals for men and women, but these were gradually removed by the authorities for road widening and other work.
Suresh Itnal, the commissioner of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC), said the civic authorities had identified 60 locations for free public urinals. Once the code of conduct for the MLC election is over, a tender would be floated to set up public urinals, he added.
About e-toilets, he said that users need to drop a rupee coin to use it, but many people drop metal pieces. He said the defunct toilets would be repaired soon.
