World Toilet Day: Metropolitan’s take on public restroom of the valley

World Toilet Day is an official United Nations International Observance Day and it falls on Nov 19. It’s aimed at inspiring people and communities to tackle the rising sanitation problem. Sadikshya Khadka of ApEx talked to officials from Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur to find out how public restrooms are being made accessible and how each municipality is committed to enhancing service and overall user experience.

Dhurba Kumar Kafle, assistant spokesperson, Kathmandu Metropolitan City

In Kathmandu, we have categorized public restrooms into three models. The first one is privately owned and run. In the second model, we consult with private institutions to operate the restrooms. Here, we supply the essentials on an annual basis, and such restrooms can be found in malls, petrol pumps, etc. The third kind is built and managed by wards.  

We released a public notice recently urging people interested in investing in the building of new public restrooms to contact the metropolitan office. Additionally, after making restrooms in petrol pumps public recently, we have noticed a betterment in service and management of such restrooms.  

For public restrooms users, I would recommend they check for signs indicating whether the toilets are free of cost or chargeable before entering. We appreciate feedback on how disabled-friendly the restrooms are, cleanliness, and accessibility so that we can work towards making public toilets better.  We also have a section on our website titled ‘Public Toilet’ where there is a map displaying all public restrooms around the city, helping people find the nearest one. 

Damodar Suwal, information officer, Bhaktapur Municipality

In Bhaktapur, we have public toilets in busy places only, such as bus parks and tourist destinations where there is a lot of movement of people. We don’t think it’s necessary to build public restrooms in residential, local places. As Bhaktapur is Nepal’s smallest municipality, it’s easy to get from one place to another so a few public toilets are more than enough.  

There are 10 toilets in different locations across the city. Additionally, public restrooms are also available for use, both for locals and foreigners in different tourist service and information center offices of the municipality. We are working towards improving the service in the public toilets as well as maintaining standards of cleanliness. The municipality is also working on adding more public toilets in tourist destinations across Bhaktapur. 

Raju Maharjan, spokesperson, Lalitpur Metropolitan

Most of the public toilets in Lalitpur have been built and are being managed by the metropolitan office. We have partnered with Aerosan to ensure sustainable maintenance of the public restrooms. Currently, toilets are being built in Patan Dhoka, Mangal Bazaar, Lagankhel, and the UN Park. Two were recently brought into operation in Sankhamul Park and Jawalakhel. We have built public restrooms in main sites across the city. 

We have called upon wards to consider making more public toilets in their respective areas. According to their responses, we will be looking into building more restrooms. We have currently allocated the budget for building six new public toilets in Lalitpur. 

For institutions or individuals wanting to and capable of supporting the expansion of public toilets across the city, we urge you to contact the metropolitan office. As all public toilets in Lalitpur were built and operate on a smart system, there are a set of rules for proper use. We request users to carefully follow the instructions as well as help in keeping the toilets clean.