The pro-poor case for public toilets

In Dhaka, there is one toilet for every 215,000 people -- as it stands, this is an unsustainable state of affairs. While Bangladesh is nowhere near as bad when it comes to this issue as it used to be or compared to other nations, when it comes to the availability of public toilets, we still lag behind. Not only is this crucial for hygiene and the overall cleanliness and beatification of Dhaka, it is an essential right for every human being. In such a landscape, it is women and the poor who suffer the most. With surveys hinting at a staggering majority of all public toilets being unusable, more than half of them lack sanitation facilities, it is no wonder that the issues of public urination and defecation still remain pressing matters in our cities. Recently, a mobile app called Dhaka Public Toilet Map has tried to tackle this issue, by steering people to the nearest public toilet available. The app incorporates important factors such as hygiene facilities, fees, women-friendliness, etc to provide users with a comprehensive solution to their needs. While this app is a welcome initiative, this is nowhere near adequate. We need the government to intervene and facilitate the people. With the number of toilets being so woefully low, we need the authorities to install more lavatories in the city. Public toilets are just as important to of a city’s infrastructure as public transport, and an absolutely essential factor when it comes to the government making good on its pro-poor promises.