BNP Audit Finds Majority of Bengaluru’s Public Toilets Unusable Due to Poor Maintenance

A three-month ground audit by the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) has revealed a stark disconnect between official cleanliness claims and on-ground reality, showing that only 45% of public toilets in Bengaluru are actually functional, despite most being officially marked as “open”.

Conducted between November 2025 and January 2026 across 38 public toilets in 21 wards, the findings were formally presented to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) on January 28, 2026. The audit exposes systemic neglect that directly impacts dignity, safety, and accessibility for millions of residents.

Functionality vs Reality

While municipal dashboards list most toilets as operational, auditors found that 55% were unusable due to:

• Broken door latches and locks

• No running water

• Non-functional lighting

• Severe filth and structural decay

This gap highlights a governance failure where reporting focuses on paper compliance rather than lived usability - a classic case where absence of independent verification undermines accountability, similar to risks seen when public infrastructure is reviewed without robust auditing services in india standards being applied at the execution level.

Systematic Exclusion of Persons with Disabilities

The audit’s most alarming statistic is that 95% of toilets were unusable for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs):

• 92% had steps with no ramps

• Existing ramps were steep, broken, or blocked

• “Accessible” cubicles were often locked or used as storage

This effectively imposes a hidden “sanitation tax” on PwDs, forcing them to plan mobility around private spaces, undermining equal participation in public life.

Safety Crisis for Women and Transgender Persons

For women and transgender users, the findings were equally grim:

• 71% toilets deemed unsafe for women

• Only 15% had female caretakers

• No emergency numbers or grievance displays

• Poor lighting inside cubicles and corridors

The audit also flagged gendered pricing, where women are charged for facilities that men access free, often without receipts - a clear indicator of informal, unmonitored cash handling.

Notably, zero dedicated or gender-neutral toilets were found for the transgender community, forcing usage of binary spaces where harassment risks remain high.

Water Dependency and Sustainability Failure

In a city facing chronic water stress, most public toilets rely entirely on private water tankers:

• No meaningful rainwater harvesting

• No greywater recycling

• Toilets become unusable within hours of tanker delays

This fragile model explains the common “locked toilet” phenomenon and raises public health risks during peak usage hours.

BNP’s 30-Day Rectification Demand

BNP has demanded a time-bound 30-day corrective action plan, including:

• Ward-wise geotagging and real-time status on Google Maps

• Immediate retrofitting for universal accessibility

• QR-based citizen feedback at every toilet

• Empowered Area Sabhas to audit monthly and withhold contractor payments

While authorities cite outsourcing as the root cause, BNP argues - correctly - that outsourcing does not eliminate government accountability.

Why This Matters

Public sanitation is the most basic indicator of a city’s governance empathy. Flyovers and tech parks mean little when basic human dignity fails at street level.

Bengaluru’s poor sanitation scores are not abstract metrics - they represent daily hardship for commuters, street vendors, women, and PwDs. Without enforceable monitoring, transparent reporting, and outcome-based accountability, infrastructure spending risks becoming symbolic rather than functional.