1 toilet per 30K people: Bengaluru's sanitation shame

Bengaluru has only about 900 public toilets to serve its population of over 1.4 crore, meaning roughly one toilet exists for every 25,000 to 30,000 residents, according to an audit released Wednesday by the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC).

The report said the city's sanitation infrastructure has failed to keep up with its growth into a global metropolis. Of the roughly 800-900 public toilets in the city, only 479 are officially listed under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), the report noted.

The audit was carried out in the months of April and May by B.CLIP, B.PAC's civic leaders and student volunteering wing, which assessed toilets across the city for functionality, hygiene, accessibility, safety and user experience.

Of 142 public toilets examined across Central, North, South and West Bengaluru, 37, or 26 per cent, were found completely non-functional. Only six toilets, or about 4 per cent, were rated "very clean," while 58 per cent had persistent foul odour. Adequate lighting was found in just 56 per cent of toilets, raising safety concerns, particularly for women, the report said.

Accessibility for people with disabilities was found to be severely lacking as only nine toilets had ramps, leaving nearly 94 per cent inaccessible to wheelchair users. Water was available in only about 40 per cent of functional toilets, and none had soap dispensers or dustbins as checked.

The report also flagged staffing and accountability gaps as only 15 per cent of caretakers were women, and information about contractors and user charges was largely missing at toilet sites.

"Bengaluru's sanitation challenge is no longer merely about constructing toilets rather it is about ensuring that existing facilities remain functional, safe, inclusive and well maintained," the report said.

B.PAC recommended a 30-day emergency repair drive to fix non-functional toilets and called for a single Public Toilet Management Cell under the GBA to oversee planning, monitoring and maintenance across the city. It also urged authorities to move away from one-time "build-only" contracts in favour of five-year operate-and-maintain contracts with strict performance checks and penalties for poor upkeep.

Other recommendations included ensuring uninterrupted water and power supply, soap dispensers and dustbins at every toilet, and prioritizing women-friendly and gender-inclusive facilities, including She-Toilets and transgender-inclusive restrooms. The report also called for greater involvement of Residents Welfare Associations, NGOs and citizen groups in monitoring toilet upkeep.

B.CLIP head Raghavendra Poojari H S urged the state government and the GBA to build more than 1,000 new modern, inclusive public toilets through a public-private partnership model, with priority given to high-footfall areas such as bus stations, metro stations, markets, parks, tourist spots and construction sites.

B.PAC CEO Revathi Ashok said that if Bengaluru aspires to be a global city, it cannot continue to overlook such basic civic necessities.