Archive · 26 Aug 2026
Why India Still Struggles to Build Usable Public Toilets
India has built many toilets, but many people still cannot find a clean, working one.
Some toilets were built only for photographs and do not have water, pipes or septic tanks.
Because of this, families may continue using fields or roadsides.
Women can face extra danger because they often need to travel farther and wait for darkness or early morning.
The article says poor sanitation can spread disease and affect everyone, including wealthy people.
It also says many people treat cleaning as someone else’s job.
Some highways and food parks now have better facilities, but they are not common everywhere.
The writer believes both governments and citizens must help solve the problem.
Clean public toilets may require planning, maintenance and a willingness to pay or take responsibility.
India has built millions of toilets, but public sanitation remains a major problem.
Some sanitation projects provide structures without plumbing, septic tanks, water or reliable usability.
Unsafe toilet access affects women especially, who may have to travel farther and wait until before sunrise.
The article argues that sanitation is both a government responsibility and a social problem perpetuated by citizens.
It says India often builds large monuments while neglecting clean, accessible roadside and public toilets.
- Who
- The article discusses Indian citizens, governments, contractors, sanitation workers and people who need public toilets.
- What
- It examines why toilet-building campaigns have not solved India’s broader public-sanitation problems.
- When
- The issue is presented as ongoing; the article also refers to a 2019 village sanitation project and lessons from the Covid period.
- Where
- The examples are mainly from India, including highways, villages, Ahmedabad and areas near Uttar Pradesh and Haryana; comparisons include the United States and Europe.
- Why
- The article attributes the problem to poorly implemented construction, missing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance and social attitudes toward public cleanliness and sanitation work.
Government responsibility
Public and social responsibility
Who should provide sanitation?
Government responsibility
Governments should build and maintain clean public toilets, especially along highways and in underserved areas.
Public and social responsibility
Citizens, businesses and communities must also stop treating sanitation as someone else’s problem and help maintain public spaces.
Why toilet schemes fail
Government responsibility
Contractors and poorly supervised projects can produce unusable structures without water, plumbing or septic tanks.
Public and social responsibility
The article argues that construction alone cannot solve the problem when people continue using fields, roadsides and alleys or fail to demand functioning facilities.
Role of private money
Government responsibility
Corporate funding and corporate social-responsibility programs could help provide better public facilities.
Public and social responsibility
The writer is doubtful that corporate money alone will fix sanitation, arguing that cleaning is still socially undervalued and associated with caste.
- Main issue
- Millions of toilets have been built, but usable public sanitation remains limited across highways, villages and cities.
- Construction failures
- One cited village project reportedly installed a ceramic toilet bowl without a septic tank, plumbing or water supply.
- Gender impact
- Women may have to travel farther and use isolated areas, creating additional safety risks.
- Public health
- The article says disease outbreaks historically pushed governments to address poor sanitation when wealthy communities were also threatened.
- Roadside facilities
- Some highways now have food parks with decent facilities, while many other routes rely on poorly maintained dhaba toilets.
- Manual scavenging
- Bezwada Wilson is cited as campaigning for an end to manual scavenging.
- Public responsibility
- The writer argues that citizens often expect the government to solve sanitation problems they also help perpetuate.