Poojappura needs urgent solution

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been a long-pending complaint of the residents of Poojappura in the city to open the public toilet that has been lying closed inside the children’s park for the past three years. The park has been a favourite hang out of families ever since it was opened, but the lack of sanitation has always been a major concern for the people who reach the park, as children, women and old citizens comprise a major chunk of the visitors to the park. "If they do not want people to use it, then why did they build it,’’ asked an agitated mother of a toddler running around in the park. The authorities opened the toilet a few times after the people made complaints. But they closed it down again for some unknown reasons. The children cannot control the call of nature like the grownups, she said.According to Neelakantan Nair, a retired Army officer residing at Poojappura, children are not the only people who suffer. "We have a large group of elderly citizens in the area, who gather in the park every day. The children can do it in the public. But what about us? We are supposed to be the role models for others,’’ he said. The local leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to stage an agitation in front of the park in protest against the lethargic attitude of the authorities. They have even stuck posters announcing their protests inside the park premises.Even though the park was built with the fund of the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation, the maintenance of the park was handed over to the Hindustan Latex Limited. But the maintenance of the toilet remained the responsibility of the Corporation. The Corporation authorities had always given the excuse that the toilet could not be opened as no one was willing to take up the ‘dirty job’. However, the authorities seem to have found a solution to the problem. According to Maheswaran Nair, the Poojapura ward councillor, the City Corporation has already signed an agreement with the Kudumbashree, granting one of its members the responsibility of the toilet. "The Corporation has decided to open the toilet complex in the park for the public on a pay-and-use basis. If all goes well, the toilet will be opened this week itself,’’ Maheswaran Nair said.