The menace of public urination has plagued the country for long. The problem looms larger when it's a cosmopolitan city -- impeccably clean and largely urbane. Bengaluru, to this end, had been facing this issue for long now. And the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) came up with an ideal solution to the growing menace.
The corporation installed mirror boards at several spots in the city -- that were being used as public urinals by people despite repeated warnings.
The boards have been installed near KR Market, Balekundri Circle, ESI Compound in Indira Nagar, Jyoti Nivas College in Kormangala and Church Street.
The mirror boards also display a QR code, which once scanned by the people using their smartphones guides them to the nearest public toilet in the vicinity.
The corporation had hit upon the idea in a meeting held to discuss ways to improve the cleanliness in the city, BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar told news agency ANI.
"We found that despite repeated cleaning of those spots they continued to be used as urinals by the people. We, therefore, hit upon the idea of having mirror boards to prevent them from using the place as a urinal and, in addition to that, we also display a QR code for the location of the nearest public toilet for them to use," Kumar said.
The BBMP Commissioner also said that the corporation is building more public toilets in the city.
He added, "We have 463 public toilets available in various parts of the city, however, there is a need for additional toilets to be built in the city considering the size. We are in the process of constructing public toilets and we are also asking the public and private companies as a part of CSR initiative to join this initiative. We have also put in place many e-toilets."
