Acute shortage of toilets at Fort Kochi, Mattancherry dampens tourist experience
Even as tourism stakeholders claim that emphasis is being laid on readying basic infrastructure at tourism destinations in Kerala, visitors to popular beach and heritage tourism spots like Fort Kochi and Mattancherry are forced to put up with an acute shortage of pay-and-use toilets in the two locales.
Most visitors are thus compelled to either travel quite a distance to the few available pay-and-use toilets or visit shops and eateries in these destinations to use their toilets, said C. Satish, president of the All Kerala Tour Guides' Association. 'A few bio-toilets that were installed in Fort Kochi are now dysfunctional due to improper upkeep, while tourists prefer to shun the pay-and-use toilets at Mattancherry since they are not maintained in a clean manner. Foreign tourists are particularly put off, as they prefer Western-style closets.'
Contrasting the condition of well-maintained toilets within the Water Metro terminal with that of a few public toilets in the two heritage zones, Mr. Satish hoped that Kerala Tourism and allied agencies would learn from the upkeep of toilets at the terminal. The least that can be done is to build an adequate number of pay-and-use toilets and entrust their upkeep to self-help groups like Kudumbashree, he said.
Interestingly, most toilet projects mulled over the past many years by tourism agencies like the Ernakulam DTPC to build pay-and-use toilets at these locales remain only on paper. Sources in the agency said that a public toilet was recently built near St. Francis Church, as a joint initiative of the DTPC and the Fort Kochi Heritage Conservation Society.
'Discussions are on to build a pay-and-use toilet complex at South Beach in Fort Kochi by availing Kerala Tourism funds. Likewise, a travel lounge has been proposed this year near Veli Ground on a 25-cent plot owned by Kochi Corporation. Apart from the need for timely upkeep, problems abound in the form of people dumping sanitary pads and other materials in closets,' they added.
Cochin Carnival officials spoke of how they were forced to rent bio-toilets during the carnival season due to the inadequate number of public toilets in Fort Kochi.
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