Delhi metro is considered one of the best metro services in the world. Over the last 20 years, the Delhi metro has made access to public transport for gender minoritised individuals easy and enabled them to reclaim public spaces. Further it has even made provisions for persons with disabilities including ramps, handrails, and audible and braille information signage in lifts.
But commuting on the Delhi metro poses one major problem for its diverse rider base – access to sanitation facilities.
Over 45% users of metro face issues while accessing/using the toilets on the Delhi Metro stations, as per a brief survey by Jhatkaa.org. Half of these respondents, who have indicated that they face trouble accessing sanitation facilities, are women or nonbinary people.
Despite access to toilets and sanitation being a basic need and a fundamental right recognised and upheld by the Supreme Court, Delhi metro’s infrastructure severely reduces access to toilets during commutes. Mirroring many commuters’ experience a person told us how:
“The toilets are locked most of the time, they are poorly maintained, many times they are located outside the stations, so once you have checked into the station with your metro card, you can’t go back outside to use the loos. So access is a problem. Mobile loos on the platform or at the check-in area would be more convenient. The toilets smell really bad.”
Since toilets are built outside the metro stations, commuters have to leave the metro station and then re-purchase the ticket to continue the ride. This is time consuming and costs double the fare one should ideally be paying.
Amongst all this, the need for access to period products also remains side-lined. All menstruating individuals who took the survey reported not being able to access sanitary napkins on the metro stations.
Apart from this, for many others, the unhygienic condition of the toilets makes them unpleasant to use or just unusable. The top three issues mentioned by almost all users regardless of their gender were:
Locked up or closed toilets
Unclean toilets
No access to water or soap in toilets
Commuters also struggle to locate the toilets as there are no proper signages in the metro stations.
The DMRC should acknowledge that accessible and hygienic sanitation facilities are every commuter’s fundamental right and it is their duty to provide it. We are urging Delhi metro to make the pre-existing toilets functional by making necessary repairs to old ones, and build hygienic toilets inside all its 286 stations. DMRC should make provisions for toilets accessible to transgender persons and persons with disabilities. We are also demanding the installation of sign boards that effectively direct commuters to the sanitation facilities.
Join us in making Delhi metro truly accessible by signing the petition now.
Delhi metro is considered one of the best metro services in the world. Over the last 20 years, the Delhi metro has made access to public transport for gender minoritised individuals easy and enabled them to reclaim public spaces. Further it has even made provisions for persons with disabilities including ramps, handrails, and audible and braille information signage in lifts.
But commuting on the Delhi metro poses one major problem for its diverse rider base – access to sanitation facilities.
Over 45% users of metro face issues while accessing/using the toilets on the Delhi Metro stations, as per a brief survey by Jhatkaa.org. Half of these respondents, who have indicated that they face trouble accessing sanitation facilities, are women or nonbinary people.
Despite access to toilets and sanitation being a basic need and a fundamental right recognised and upheld by the Supreme Court, Delhi metro’s infrastructure severely reduces access to toilets during commutes. Mirroring many commuters’ experience a person told us how:
“The toilets are locked most of the time, they are poorly maintained, many times they are located outside the stations, so once you have checked into the station with your metro card, you can’t go back outside to use the loos. So access is a problem. Mobile loos on the platform or at the check-in area would be more convenient. The toilets smell really bad.”
Since toilets are built outside the metro stations, commuters have to leave the metro station and then re-purchase the ticket to continue the ride. This is time consuming and costs double the fare one should ideally be paying.
Amongst all this, the need for access to period products also remains side-lined. All menstruating individuals who took the survey reported not being able to access sanitary napkins on the metro stations.
Apart from this, for many others, the unhygienic condition of the toilets makes them unpleasant to use or just unusable. The top three issues mentioned by almost all users regardless of their gender were:
Locked up or closed toilets
Unclean toilets
No access to water or soap in toilets
Commuters also struggle to locate the toilets as there are no proper signages in the metro stations.
The DMRC should acknowledge that accessible and hygienic sanitation facilities are every commuter’s fundamental right and it is their duty to provide it. We are urging Delhi metro to make the pre-existing toilets functional by making necessary repairs to old ones, and build hygienic toilets inside all its 286 stations. DMRC should make provisions for toilets accessible to transgender persons and persons with disabilities. We are also demanding the installation of sign boards that effectively direct commuters to the sanitation facilities.
Join us in making Delhi metro truly accessible by signing the petition now.