It costs one rupee to relieve yourself at public urinals maintained by the BBMP and the BMTC, although the sign boards say it’s free, but the upmarket Namma Metro has decided that it will charge three times that at toilets to be built at its stations on Reach 1.
Heeding public demand, the Bangalore Metropolitan Railway Company Limited (BMRCL) has decided to open rest rooms for passengers at metro stations at Baiyappanahalli and Indiranagar on June 21.
When BMRCL commissioned its Reach 1 operational line between Baiyappanahalli and MG Road with six stations, commuters complained about the lack of toilets at the stations. The BMRCL countered the demand with the stand that constructing toilets was not part of the Metro construction plan and in any case, building toilets in the city was the responsibility of the BBMP.
As rationale, BMRCL officials offered that commuters spent hardly five minutes at Metro stations so rest rooms were not required. Moreover, they argued that none of the BMTC bus stops in the city had toilets for passengers.
On the Baiyappanahalli-MG Road line, BMRCL operates trains between 6 am and 10 pm.
On an average, 20,000 people travel in Namma Metro on the stretch, with the numbers rising at weekends.
