In an attempt to offer some relief to our often bursting bladders, the Government of India today will launch a new app with a toilet locator which will help us find a restroom in the area we are in. Initially, the app will cover Delhi NCR and two cities in Madhya Pradesh. The app launch is a part of the Government’s ‘Swacch Bharat’ initiative and has been developed in partnership between Google and the Ministry of Urban Development.
The app will certainly help when the need to visit a restroom is urgent. However, given the number of public restroom facilities our cities have, it still remains a question, as how long will one have to hold on to, if the nearest toilet is far away and the situation is critical? In some positive development though, so far, data on location of 2 lakh toilets has been gathered — even those in private buildings, metro stations, fuel pumps, malls, hospitals, which will then be integrated within the app and show up on Google maps.
When launched, the app will feature cleanliness ratings for the facility, whether it is of western or Indian style and also if one can use it for free or might have to pay to it. Some might laugh it off, but it is at least the beginning of a change and we hope it works.
