IT was probably in 1954 when the Karachi Municipal Corporation constructed dozens of public toilets in the city for people visiting the main markets and shopping areas and the government secretariat.

These utilities were of simple design, one WC at either end, and a urinal between them. I remember the location of three of them very well. One was at Soldier Bazar, another in Bohri Bazar and one adjacent to Tughlaq House.

The population of the city since has risen from 2.5 million to over 20 million. However, instead of proportionately increasing the number of public toilets, the municipal authorities could not even maintain the few constructed in 1954, and all of them have disappeared. Thus the public face inconvenience and are forced to relieve themselves in public places.

One remedy to this problem can be to make it obligatory for builders to provide a public urinal outside their projects. I may add that WCs are not as necessary as simple urinals which can be provided at nominal cost in terms of both cost of construction and maintenance.

A citizen

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2019