Unclean toilets at petrol pumps

Despite having funds for maintaining clean toilets at petrol pump, dealers are not able to adhere to the guidelines of oil companies.

By Swati Ekka

Toilets at petrol pumps are causing friction between dealers and oil companies as toilets are not maintained regularly. Commuters experience difficulty when they find broken commodes and empty taps in petrol pump toilets.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited official says, “Public sector unit (PSU) petrol pump dealers are provided with guidelines, to have clean drinking water and clean toilets. It’s their responsibility to maintain a clean and usable toilet.

“For every liter of petrol, consumer pays four paisa towards the maintenance of toilets at petrol pumps,” the official said.

“It’s always an appalling experience for the people who have to use dirty public toilet”, said Geeta, one of the customers at Pethi service station petrol pump in Basaveshwara Nagar. She said that petrol pump toilets are always dirty, small and some of the petrol pumps do not have adequate facility.

The Swacch Bharat Mission (urban) guidelines state “Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) should ensure that for the convenience of the public, at every public place (banks, post offices, bus stops, petrol pumps, metro stations, hospitals, restaurants, schools, health centers, anganwadis, citizen centers) there should be at least one public toilet available, and that the facility should be kept functional and open for public use.”

HPCL official added that there is a complaint portal that registers complaints regarding unclean toilets at the outlets. The dealers are fined with Rs 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 on basis of complaints filed.

President of Bangalore Petroleum Dealers Association, Mr. Ravindranath B.R says, “We try our best to maintain toilets in our petrol pump but it’s the people who leave them dirty after using it. Sometimes people damage the toilet fittings like sink, tap and flush. It causes inconvenience for the employees.

“Earlier there was no facility for lodging a complaint, but after the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission, the oil companies have become stricter.”

Nanjegowada, an employee at Banasankari petrol pump says, “I don’t feel like using the toilet, it`s not in usable condition. The authorities should take steps to repair the toilet at the earliest.”

Mr Prahalad I.M, a training and research associate of Sochara, Center for Public Health and Equity (CPHE), Bangalore, says, “It’s a cultural thing that public toilets as well as petrol pump toilets are dirty. People don’t use toilets appropriately. Instead of utilizing the water and sanitation facilities that are provided, they leave the toilets dirty.”