Kathmandu: Many passers-by walking in the city defecate in the open. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) stated that over 50 per cent passers by defecate on the footpaths despite having the facility of public toilets. "Four years ago, about 1100 people used to use public toilets every day. Number of toilet users have decreased by half at present," said Rabin Man Shrestha, Chief of Environment Department at KMC.

The KMC stated that the tendency of random defecation has increased due to lack of awareness on sanitation, high fee for using public toilet and lack of knowledge about public toilets in the people who enter Kathmandu city for the first time from different parts of the country.
Pashupati Area Development Fund and KMC have constructed 35 public toilets in the Kathmandu Valley. Shrestha informed that there are 17 toilets in the city. Open defecation is increasing in Sahidgate and Bir Hospital areas. "People from villages do not use public toilets due to the toilet fee," said Ratna Deula, a fee collector of public toilet at Bir Hospital. Environment Department at KMC stated that pollution is increasing in the Kathmandu Valley due to use of open toilet and increasing number of in-migrants in the city. Legal action can be taken against the people who defecate on the footpaths or in the open but till now the KMC has not taken any legal action against those people. "We have not taken any legal action yet but we are planning to punish open defecators," said Rabin Man Shrestha.
"Though KMC separates budget for cleaning public toilets, the staffs themselves are buying necessary materials for the toilet," said Kedar Chhetri, staff of a public toilet at Bir Hospital.
"We have to submit Rs. 7000 to the contractor every month. We have to share the remaining," said Geeta Shrestha, a staff of the public toilet at Khullamanch.

Source: Kantipur, April 19, 2008