40 per cent of Vizag toilets are bad' or average', says online survey

Vishakhapatnam: Nearly 40 per cent of the public toilets in Vizag city have been rated as 'bad' or 'average' by the general public. The ratings were shown under the ‘public health’ category on the ‘City Dashboard’ page of the official website of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) – www.gvmc.gov.in

When Deccan Chronicle checked the website on June 15, a total of 7,61,913 persons expressed their opinion on ‘public toilets'.

Nearly 40 per cent of the respondents felt the toilets were average or bad. Nearly 19 per cent of those in the survey said the toilets were 'bad’ while 21 per cent said these were of  average quality.

Vizag-based India Youth for Society member M Jagadeesh Kumar, who takes up environmental friendly activities in the city, said, “the below-middle class people are comfortable with the toilets as per their observations, but the authorities would need to put in some extra efforts to make the toilets usable by the above-middle-class and tourists.”

A tourist said the corporation would do well to set up new toilets or at least mobile toilets at RK Beach and Tenneti Park. The existing toilets were not sufficient to cater to the needs of the visitors, he said.

GVMC chief medical officer KSLG Sastry told DC he also checked the feedback on the GVMC website. “We took the feedback and will improve the condition of the toilets.” The corporation requested the public to give genuine feedback on the toilets and their maintenance with details like photographs, contact details and address for immediate response from their team.

The city has 328 toilets including 248 community toilets across the 98 wards under eight zones in GVMC limits. There were plans of developing the toilets and adding a few more toilets in the city, Sastry said.

Pointers:

- 7,61,913 persons gave feedback

- 4,54,412 rated ‘Good'

- 1,63,253 rated 'Bad'

- 1,44,248 rated ‘Average'

- City has total 328 toilets

- 248 community toilets

- 80 public toilets