It is unrealistic to expect Indian restrooms to become cultural hubs. But there is a need to adapt from the Chinese Government's initiative to rate toilets and penalise laggards to ensure standards of hygiene are maintained at public conveniences
It is a well-established fact that a country’s sanitation standards play an important role in boosting its tourism inflows. Public toilets, especially, can make or break a country’s image. But can public restrooms be turned into a cultural experience?
Unimaginable as it may seem, Libo, a picturesque county in China’s Guizhou Province, has done just that. Tourism being the mainstay of the economy in Libo, popularly called the Green Emerald because of its breath-taking green lakes, the famed Seven Holes Bridge (a UNESCO world heritage site) and lush landscape, public toilets here are not just free and hygienic but have been so planned and built that users get a glimpse of their rich cultural heritage as well.
Called service stations, the eight public toilet complexes in Libo weave tradition and culture with modern sanitation infrastructure to showcase the fascinating history of its ethnic communities.
This has been done so that tourists can learn about their unique customs and culture, say local officials.
Much like India, each of the 56 ethnic communities in China has its own unique costumes, jewellery, language, music and musical instruments and scripts.
Spreading greater awareness of the history and folklore of these ethnic communities is the Yao Service Station. Named after the Yao ethnic community, this public toilet complex has used a 160-year-old Zhangaoshu tree to tell an interesting tale.
The purpose of building the restrooms around this Zhangaoshu, or Sticky Paste tree as it is known, was because the bark and juice extracted from this tree have been traditionally used by the Yaos to weave fabric and make the famed indigo dye.
Known for their expertise in weaving, dyeing and embroidery, the Yaos are believed to have first developed their craft during the time of the Han Dynasty.
In the two-storyed Yao service station, there is more than just separate women’s, men’s and unisex toilets (these have extra baby seats, safety handrails and speakers). Stories of the Yao community line the walls in addition to a café, a tea- tasting room and a library.
Since the restrooms are situated on the ground floor to cater to the special demands of the elderly, women, children and people with disabilities, the Yao exhibits have been strategically placed so that when visitors walk out of the restrooms, they are bound to see them as well as the tree. They can also step into the café for a quick bite or relax in the library, browsing books.
The local government has outsourced these service stations to private companies to ensure that the quality of hygiene is maintained. So while the toilets are free, revenue is generated from the café to help sustain the facility. Now with the increase in the number of tourists, (mostly domestic), from nine million in 2016 to 12 million in 2017, six more such service stations have been planned.
It is not just Libo which has invested heavily in upgrading its infrastructure. Guizhou has invested 1.243 billion yuan ($198 million) in building and upgrading 3,200 public toilets in the entire province since 2015.
The decision to make public loos more than just toilets was taken after a three-year “toilet revolution” was launched in China in 2015 by President Xi Jinping to build better bathrooms at tourist sites.
A sum of 20 billion yuan ($3.03 billion) has already been spent on installing and improving 68,000 toilets located at tourist destinations across the country, according to Chinese media reports.
Now there is a bid to improve toilets in the rural areas much like the Swachh Bharat campaign initiated by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. In fact, it was believed that inspiration for the toilet revolution in China came from India.
India, too, has made progress in its cleanliness campaign. Government statistics show that just a little less than 80 million toilets have been built and 89 per cent of the population have access to a toilet. But toilets at tourist spots have somehow not received the same priority and focus. The photograph of incomplete toilets at the recently opened Statute of Unity complex is a case in point. Could not the inauguration have waited until everything was completed? Considering the huge sum of money spent on building the Statute, why was this aspect overlooked?
The lack of basic facilities at prominent tourist destinations not only leaves a bad impression but also impacts negatively on tourism. In Karnataka, for example, the 2014-15 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India’s report found that 33 per cent of the people were unhappy with basic facilities such as toilets and their maintenance at tourist destinations. This translated in a decline in tourist inflow and consequently, a decline in tourism revenue.
It is unrealistic to expect Indian restrooms to become cultural hubs. But clean, hygienic and user-friendly public toilets are a must. Sulabh International has a good record and could be given the responsibility in conjunction with other like-minded NGOs.
Maybe there is a need to adapt from the Chinese Government’s initiative to rate toilets and also penalise laggards to ensure standards of hygiene are maintained at public restrooms.
(The writer is a senior journalist)