BRAJ  DHAM  NEEDS  BETTER  TOILETS

 

Mathura

 

Peeved by the pathetic lack of community hygiene due to lack of public toilets around temples and shrines associated with Sri Krishna-Radha, residents of the holy towns of Vrindavan, Goverdhan and Mathura today  demanded well maintained pay toilets for the convenience of pilgrims visiting Braj Mandal.

 

"Looking at the number of pilgrims that daily visit Braj mandal the public toilets are like drops in the desert, few that are there are badly managed with human excreta and urine spilling over on roads," said a guide cum panda of Mathura Govind Sharma.

 

The number of pilgrims coming to Braj shrines is more than ten million annually and most are from humble backgrounds. The Jai Gurudev temple alone attracts more than a million and then you have a festival almost every month when lakhs perform the parikrama. "These people need decent civic amenities. They take all problems in their stride as they come to Sri Krishna land with other noble intentions, but the local management of municipal bodies should be alive to their problems and ensure a comfortable visit," says an old sadhu of Gokul, Sri Krishna Das ji.

 

On the 21 km parikrama route in Goverdhan, lakhs of pilgrims each day have to ease in the open. "It is such an unholy sight early in the morning. The dharamshalas do have toilets but the number is limited. Lakhs of people keep moving around the parikrama round the clock and they need adequate facilities to answer nature's calls. The local bodies have not bothered to address this issue," added Goverdhan's panda Birjo Baba. He said there was need for a string of public toilets around Mansi Ganga, the holy pond that every pilgrim visits to take a bath.

 

One finds the same scenario in Barsana, Nandgaon, Gokul, Mahavan and other religious sites in the area. "As far as Vrindavan in concerned the Sulabh International has provided a few but their upkeep and maintenance is poor. The Sulabh in recent years has been more focused on the widows' uplift programmes rather than addressing the problem of public toilets in the Braj area," social activist Jagan Poddar said.

 

The situation is worse in Mathura. All along the boundary of the bus stand and outside the railway stations you only see long lines of people easing themselves along the walls. "The toilets have been built but since there is no water and no arrangement for regular cleaning, the people shudder to enter the stinking toilets. Women's toilets are non existent, and where they do it is not safe for women to enter it for various reasons. Even doctors advise women not to go to public toilets as they could catch UTI," according to an NGO functionary Dhananjay Gautam.

 

Anshuman Gopal, a businessman of Vrindavan said "the state government should first ensure public hygiene and provide basic civic amenities. Now Vrindavan is a world renowned holy city which is daily visited by thousands of pilgrims. The number goes in lakhs on special occasions. People need facilities near the temples, along the ghats, near the forests and parikrama marg."

 

Rajendra Agarwal however says that it is not enough to have public toilets. "More important is the need for regular cleaning and provision of water. The safai karamcharis have to be deputed. Unfortunately the focus of the government is not on toilets but on opening malls and complexes."

 

In Mathura most commercial complexes do not have public toilets. Big showrooms also lack facilities for women particularly. "While prime minister Modi is stressing on the need for cleanliness and public hygiene the local bodies are dragging their feet and not attaching any importance to public toilets. Even schools need toilets. The Mathura Vrindavan Development Authority should not clear any plan for new house or shopping complext without sewer connectivity and public toilets," suggests Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, a businessman.

 

Women going to the markets are particularly inconvenienced by the lack of toilet facilities. The local bodies should provide clean toilets in every market, said social activist Dr Ashok Bansal. "The problem is not so much for men who can piss around just anywhere, but think of the plight of women, particularly elderly female pilgrims who have no privacy and convenient amenities to relieve themselves," he added. 

 

People defecating by the road-side or on open drains, banks of the Yamuna or on the periphery of community ponds, dont present a pleasant sight. "The holy land of Sri Krishna and Radha surely deserves a better deal, and perhaps on a more urgent basis than the world's tallest temple," commented Acharya Jaimini, music maestro of Vrindavan.