A month after the Commonwealth Games Federation expressed satisfaction over preparations for the next year's mega event, a leading sanitation NGO today said a lot needed to be done to provide proper facilities to visitors.
World Toilet Organisation chief Jack Sim said though the national capital has just one year to go for the games, it can still build international standard toilets.
"Toilet is a very sensitive issue. People undervalue the power of toilet. Cleaner toilet gives the right impression to a tourist about the city he visits. So, the toilets should be neat and germ-free," Sim told PTI.
Citing China's example, Sim said the country began a campaign for establishing cleaner toilets in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics in 2003 and the city had world-class toilets by 2006, two years ahead of the games.
The NGO chief said new toilets should be built across the city and especially at the venues of games.
"The government and private players should try to upgrade the infrastructure of existing public toilets in the city and
transform them. Toilet reflects the culture of the city," he said.
Sim, who provided better sanitation facilities for the Beijing Olympics, said the organisation was ready to assist the Delhi Government in providing proper toilet facilities for the Commonwealth Games.He said the public and private playersshould try to provide incentive to the people who clean toilets.
"Cleaning toilet is considered to be a dirty job. But it is not so. The job should be professionalised and the people who clean the toilets should be given incentives. It should be institutionalised," he said.
The NGO chief also said he was ready to provide technical know-how and other details about toilet cleaning.
According to Sahana Sheikh, Centre for Civil Society, only 132 urinals are available for women in Delhi and most of them are in a dilapidated state. She also says there are only 14-16 toilets for 40,000 people in Sanjay Colony near Okhla.
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