PONDA: Two months after the dilapidated toilet complex at the Ponda bus stand was demolished for reconstruction, the authorities have finally set up two portable toilets for passengers and members of the general public. However, as it is a pay-and-use facility, many people, all of them males, choose to urinate in the vicinity of the porta toilets instead of paying Rs 5 to use them.
This apparent lack of civic sense, coupled with the resultant stench permeating the area, has made many female passengers hesitant to use the porta toilets. They have demanded that a separate toilet block be set up exclusively for women at the bus stand and that the charge of Rs 5 be reduced so that more people might be encouraged to use them.
The porta toilets were set up following a series of reports by O Heraldo highlighting the hardships that passengers, particularly female travellers, had been facing in the absence of a toilet facility at the bus stand. They will remain on site until the new toilet complex is readied by the Goa State Urban Development Authority.
Another risk that people have pointed to is the old toilet’s tank, which has caved in and is on the verge of collapse. They have asked that it be demolished immediately as it could endanger the life of anyone venturing close to it.