Madurai : The hurried civic makeover rolled out for chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s Sept 28 visit is already showing signs of reversal, with a renovated public toilet still locked, cleared encroachments returning and garbage reappearing around Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH).
“We direct them to a private toilet located about 200 metres from the hospital. People, particularly outpatients and their attenders, are suffering due to the lack of adequate toilet facilities on the hospital premises,” he said. Because neither the hospital nor the civic body maintained it, a senior corporation official said the toilet was earlier maintained by GRH but had remained unattended for some time.
Vijay, an autorickshaw driver operating from a stand at GRH, said hundreds of visitors ask drivers daily where they can find a public toilet. The corporation should initiate a step to reopen the facility ASAP,” Vijay said. The corporation took over the facility following the chief minister’s visit and has since begun renovation work, the official said.
The continued closure has left patients, attenders and other visitors searching for alternatives despite thousands of people using the hospital every day. “Every day, we see people visiting GRH struggling to find a place to answer nature’s call.
Corporation workers repaired and painted the public toilet opposite GRH, but authorities shut the facility two days before the chief minister’s visit and have not reopened it since.