Mumbai: Unhygienic spaces compound women's toilet woes

It's tough being a woman in the city, especially so for working professionals. Unhygienic condition of toilets, poor lighting and fewer toilet seats are all major reasons why women feel uncomfortable while stepping outdoors.

On average, out of every three toilet seats in the city, two are for men and one for women. The supposedly posh part of the city, its A-Ward, doesn't paint a different picture. According to a report by the Praja Foundation on civic issues which was published in April 2017, there are only 14,687 toilets across the city. This data was given by the BMC. For a city with a population of 1 crore, 24 lakhs, and floating population of over 50 lakh, the numbers of toilet seats are minuscule.

On average, a Mumbaikar travels about 45-55 minutes to get to his/her workplace. There are fewer public toilets, and women prefer not to use them altogether because the ones that exist are also in a very unhygienic condition.

Supriya Sonar, an activist with the 'Right to Pee' movement, said there are 10,778 toilets for men against 3,909 for women.

A survey by the Urban Project indicated that a majority of the people who are in A-Ward are from the floating population, who are likely to need to use public restrooms. "After the survey, we found that A-Ward, which gets large numbers of people for tourism, education, work, etc., has very few toilets. Even prominent roads don't have toilets nearby," said Vijayshree Pednekar from TUP. "The toilets that do exist often lack ventilation and proper lighting, as a result of which they are small, cramped, stinking places."