PUBLIC TOILETS IN NEPAL: A NATIONAL DISGRACE?

 

The state of public toilets in Nepal has become a pressing yet often overlooked concern that reflects broader issues of urban mismanagement, public health neglect, and governance failure. While modern infrastructure development in Nepal has made strides in sectors like road expansion, telecom, and education, the availability and condition of public sanitation facilities remain abysmal. In cities such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Biratnagar—where population density continues to rise—public toilets are not only few in number but also poorly maintained, largely inaccessible, and in many cases completely unusable. This problem is so pervasive and normalized that the lack of clean, functioning public toilets is no longer seen as a temporary lapse, but as a systemic failure that affects the dignity, mobility, and health of millions of people daily.

The consequences of inadequate public sanitation extend far beyond simple inconvenience. For many Nepalis, especially women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, the lack of accessible public toilets significantly limits their freedom of movement in urban spaces. Women, in particular, are disproportionately affected, often forced to curtail their time in public or compromise their health by delaying urination or defecation. These conditions increase the risk of urinary tract infections and other hygiene-related illnesses. The problem is further intensified during menstruation, when women need safe, private, and clean spaces—which are virtually nonexistent in most public areas. For disabled individuals, the problem is even more severe due to the absence of disability-friendly facilities, exposing the broader issue of exclusion in public infrastructure planning.

The issue is compounded by poor maintenance and a lack of institutional responsibility. Many public toilets that do exist are either locked, lack running water, have broken fixtures, or are covered in filth due to neglect. There is often no accountability on the part of local municipalities or public agencies to ensure regular cleaning or functional infrastructure. The absence of cleaning staff, water supply, or basic hygiene provisions like soap and sanitary bins indicates a deep-rooted culture of institutional apathy. Municipalities frequently inaugurate public toilets as part of development plans, only to abandon their maintenance within months, suggesting that these facilities are built more for optics than for actual service delivery.

Despite the declaration of Nepal as an open defecation free (ODF) country in 2019, the reality on the ground tells a different story. While progress has been made in encouraging household latrine construction in rural areas, urban public sanitation has been largely left behind. The ODF campaign, though successful in community mobilization in rural districts, failed to address the growing crisis of sanitation infrastructure in rapidly urbanizing towns and cities. As a result, people are often forced to use bushes, alleys, or unregulated private spaces—practices that are unhygienic, unsafe, and degrading. The contradiction between official statistics and everyday lived experience reveals a gap between policy rhetoric and on-the-ground implementation.

There is also a clear class dimension to this issue. In malls, upscale restaurants, and private institutions, clean toilets are available—but they are not accessible to the general public. This leaves lower-income citizens, street vendors, daily wage laborers, tourists, and travelers without dignified options. The privatization of basic sanitation access creates a form of exclusion that is rarely acknowledged in urban planning discourse. It is ironic that in a country that depends significantly on tourism, the absence of functional public toilets in major tourist hubs like Thamel or Swayambhunath becomes not just a matter of national embarrassment, but also a barrier to economic and reputational growth.

Some private-public partnerships and NGOs have attempted to tackle this issue through "smart toilet" models, pay-per-use toilets, or maintenance partnerships with local businesses. However, these efforts are fragmented, underfunded, and lack scalability. Without a coordinated national policy backed by long-term investment and community involvement, such initiatives remain isolated successes. A genuine solution requires not only infrastructure development but also behavioral change, regulatory enforcement, and budget allocation from the federal to local levels.

In essence, the appalling condition of public toilets in Nepal is not merely a logistical failure—it is a reflection of how little value is placed on public dignity, health, and urban inclusivity. That public defecation or urination continues to be a normalized coping mechanism in the capital city of a modernizing nation underscores a deeper social and political failure. Until public sanitation is treated as a right rather than a neglected afterthought, the question posed—“a national disgrace?”—will unfortunately remain not an exaggeration, but a painful truth.