Bangalore needs a scrub

BANGALORE: Subways, public toilets, bus stands and roadside eateries - these record the most footfalls in the city every day. But one glance at these public places can deter you from taking the first step. While the subways reek of spit stains and double up as toilets, the public toilets are too filthy to be used and bus stands teem with garbage. The hygiene standards of Bangalore are poor, its global IT hub credentials notwithstanding.
Dare to use city underpasses only if you have a strong lung capacity! You would like to hold your breath and cross these smelly and filthy tubes. Smitten with spit marks - fresh and dried, stinking puddles, uncovered garbage bins and junk strewn everywhere, these subways are also used as public toilets.
The underpass near Town Hall is a classic example. Both side walls of this 10 foot-long dark hole are used as loos. But regulars say things can get worse. "Real filth comes when it rains. While the rain water carries in the garbage from the road, everything is churned up inside the underpass. It becomes impossible to use," says Srinivas K.
There are many such crosscuts, reflecting on the abysmal hygiene quotient of the city. "Idu namma mane. Dayavittu galeeju mada bedi' say the scribbling on the entry points of the K R Market Pedestrian Subway put up by the Kalasipalya police. However, unbearable stench and spit marks have ruined it.
"We use it as there is no other option. When it comes to hygiene, the city is definitely not up to the mark," said Megha Tawar, a student of BMS College. The Majestic railway station and bus stand subway cuts an equally sorry figure with broken slabs and a smelly hole.
Things are not any better in public toilets. Stench from these toilets forces you to cover your face even from a distance. Broken slabs with sewage oozing out is the only way to reach the Kalasipalya bus stand toilet. While half of the toilet has no water facility, the area around it is used by passersby to attend nature's call.
Whether Nirmala Toilets or Sulab Shauchalayas, most public toilets are in unusable condition, forcing people to turn to footpaths to attend nature's call.
The makeshift food stalls that dot K R Market area are surrounded by garbage and a small dustbin overflows with leftovers dumped by customers.