25 public urinals for working women in Mumbai, demand Right To Pee activists

Mumbai: Being a working woman in Mumbai can be tough. A typical problem that has confounded most of the women is the lack of clean and safe public toilets.

For women who are out of their homes for nearly 12 hours daily, the only choice is to wait till they reach a mall, office or home.

Keeping this problem in mind, a united front of 40 women's group launched a Right to Pee Campaign two years ago.

A series of investigations and information through RTI revealed there are woefully inadequate numbers of toilets for women at public places. While 24 wards of the city have 6568 urinals for men, there are hardly any for women.

There are very few pay-and-use toilets and their conditions are deplorable because of the lack of cleaning staff.

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"These toilets are so clogged and filthy that I am scared of catching some infection while using them, so I just avoid them," says Dipti A, a media professional.

The women's campaign has had some success as the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC has earmarked Rs 75 lakh to build urinals for women in Mumbai. It is, however, a tiny sum compared to the rupees Rs 514 crore that the BMC spends on sanitation every year.

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"We want them to construct 25 public urinals for women by the end of this year and we will monitor their progress," says Vibhuti Patel, a professor of economics at SNDT women's university in Mumbai and a key member of the Right To Pee Network.

The group has also demanded that public toilets be disabled friendly.

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The campaign has been creating awareness about the health problems like urinary tract infections caused by long hours of wait because of the lack of urinals.