Daily Times

KARACHI: In the routine hustle bustle of Murad Khan Road near Khori Garden Market, Sakina is the only female roadside vendor, selling “pulse-made ‘paapar’. She does not face any difficulty carrying her roadside business but feel hardship when it is time of call of nature. She has to bear and wait until work is finished and it is time to return back home near Light House area.

“For females, there is no public washroom facility in whole market. During my routine stay here for almost eight hours, I cannot go to toilet, as I have no other choice. As the result I would have to hold,” Sakina told. “In this backdrop I would have to drink less water,” she added.

According to experts, provision of safe, clean and comfortable public toilets is critical to citizens’ health. “Women, in response to lack of toilet provision, are likely to ‘hold on’ resulting in urine (and pathogen) retention, and bladder distension increasing the propensity for continence problems,” said Dr Nuzhat Faruqui, a urologist and assistant professor at Aga Khan University, Karachi.

“The elderly and people with disabilities may simply not go out to answer the call of nature. Those toilets that are available may be unusable. At times, people stop drinking water hours before they travel which also imposes a risk of urinary infection and stone formation,” Dr Faruqui maintained.

Not only Sakina, but also other female customers face same difficulty and feel embarrassment to meet call of nature. “I wish city authorities could take serious note of it,” she lamented.

But little does Sakina know that newly-started Karachi’s Rs 16.85 billion Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which comes in her route, would not possess adequate toileting facility. Little she is aware of the fact that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during ground-breaking ceremony of the project had said, “The BRT will make life easy for residents of the areas it passes through.”

The federal government funded Green Line project, which would cater to almost 300,000 commuters a day had initially been planned from Surjani Town to Gurumandir but now it has been extended up to Merewether Tower.

According to constructors EA Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, responsible for building and execution of this project for Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited (KIDCL), out of original 22 passenger service stations between Surjani Town and Gurumandir, not all service stations would have public toilet facilities due to issues pertaining to availability of space, provision of water and sewerage networks.

Zahid Farooq, an urban planner links complete success of this project in case of all facilities including provision of public lavatories. “If project management is facing problems in terms of finding space, water connection or drainage, it should make it technically possible,” he said. “Provision of public toilets should be included at all stations. It counts the success or create vacuum in public projects,” official of Urban Resource Centre said while demanding provision of separate male-female lavatories.

Not too far away from Sakina’s open sky business, there is an ‘Only For Men’ public toilet, one of city’s oldest public lavatory. However, upon visiting, the place was presenting a filthy look, and Rana Masih, in charge of Khori Garden Public Toilet, was seen resting on concrete blocks structure, with an eye on the visitors for collection charges.