- Lack of public toilets in capital trouble citizens, mostly customers at different markets
- Local shopkeepers highjack existing toilets, which are too few anyways
Islamabad boasts of its planned establishment and civic management but when it comes to facility of public lavatories, woes of its citizens are not different from other cities’ inhabitants.
G-9 Market, better known as Karachi Company, is the largest market in the capital for the lower middle and middle class consumers but it has no public lavatory available. A large number of female citizens who come to this market for buying garments, cosmetics, shoes etc face difficulties.
Muhammad Shabbir, who was visiting the market with his family, told this scribe that his 4-year-old son needed to defecate but there was no toilet available. “I took him to a mosque in the market but its toilet was locked and a guard told me that these toilets are opened only during the prayer timings,” he further told.
“My son was struggling to hold the ‘call of nature’ and in absence of any other choice, he had to defecate behind car parking,” embarrassed Shabbir said.
A hawker in the market who sells fruit on the bicycle told that as he has to stay in the market almost all day long, therefore he has found a secret toilet which is only used by some shopkeepers.
“In fact it is a public toilet built by Capital Development Authority (CDA) but has been long abandoned; few shopkeepers have made it working spending their own money and then they have locked it for their own use only. I am one of the few lucky men as one of the shopkeepers belongs to my native village and he gave me this favour,” he revealed
Sector F-7 ‘s Jinnah Super Market is different than the G-9 Market in its outlook and attracts relatively more affluent classes for shopping but as far as the facility of public lavatory is concerned, the conditions are not different.
Shahid Asghar, who runs a franchise of a popular high-end shoe store in Jinnah Super Market, said that despite all the posh qualities attached with this market, there is no public toilet and even the shopkeepers have to use the toilets of nearby international food outlets.
“Sometimes our customers ask for a lavatory especially the women carrying children usually need it but we tell them to go to the food chains. It’s the responsibility of CDA to make public toilets in every market but I don’t know what they are busy in,” Shahid said.
Kohsaar Market in F-6, known for small restaurants and as a first choice market of foreigners, is no different than G-9 and F-8.
Two public toilets, one each for male and female, are present in one western corner of the market near the mosque but as it was found in G-9, these are under control of the shopkeepers of the market who have locked them and the customers have no access to it.
When this scribe asked few visitors about the availability of public lavatory in the Kohsaar Market, they responded in a rather strange manner as something very private has been asked of them.
A man in his forties told that he never needed to use a lavatory in the market and even if he will ever need it, he will rush to his home as he cannot use dirty public toilets.
“You know the use of public toilets is a big source of spreading diseases as they are often not well maintained,” he said in a low tone as if someone will hear him talking about it.
On the other hand, an official in CDA Directorate of Market Maintenance claimed that they have built four public toilets in each sector and another two in each sub sector of Islamabad.
When this scribe pointed out that most of those public toilets have been abandoned since long, he admitted the fact and told that CDA is going to allocate a large sum for the maintenance of public toilets.