Metro station margins turn public urinals, causing discomfort for bus commuters

Nauseous stench of ammonia hits the nostrils as soon as one steps outside the elevator of the metro rail station at Nampally, a busy junction hosting the Hyderabad Deccan railway station and witnessing thousands of passenger footfalls on daily basis.

As one heads towards the bus stop negotiating one’s way around the recently built toilet complex, the stench only gets more pungent, pervading the entire olfactory system. Adding to it would be the plethora of unpleasant sights — vagabonds lying across in filth, flies around the half eaten packets of food, rats scurrying with bits, and a litter of pigeons feasting on scraps – attacking the visual senses all at once.

Commuters waiting at the bus stop are forced to endure the stench as long as it takes for their bus to arrive. Using the seats at the shelter is not an option, as they would be often occupied by the homeless, the drug addicts and drunkards who do not mind relieving themselves around the toilet complex instead of in.

The insanitary condition of the location housing the Nampally metro station cum bus stop has remained utterly neglected for years now. Continuously littered floor and debris and garbage strewn around add to the spectacle, which does not attract the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s attention despite being glaringly obvious.

Nampally is not alone in its predicament. This is the sorry state of almost all the bus stops in the city which are conjoined with the metro stations, but not lined with commercial establishments.

Lakdikapul and Errum Manzil bus stops are more examples where the margin between the metro pillars and the wall behind is rampantly used by urchins and commuters to relieve themselves. At Lakdikapul, a public toilet exists right at the bus shelter, and at Errum Manzil, within a walking distance. Both metro stations too have public toilets, but the commuters prefer the open space behind the pillars.

“This has started only after metro rail stations were constructed here. Pillars provide the cover, which is used as urinal. Security guards should be posted and those relieving themselves here should be punished,” said Ghazi Mohammed, a passenger waiting at Errum Manzil.