By: Rajesh Burba

Lumbini: While roaming around the Lumbini area, a Vietnamese tourist Richard Collin wanted to go to toilet and asked a local person, ‘Where is toilet?’ ‘Please use mineral water bottle’, the person who was walking on the road answered in English, ‘Sorry sir, here is no toilet.’ The Vietnamese tourist went to the nearby bushes with a mineral water bottle after he could not find any other way of relieving himself.

Not only Collin, hundreds of native and foreigners visiting the Lumbini area have to face similar kind of problem due to lack of toilet. Lumbini Development Area, the birth place of Gautam Buddha, is enlisted in the World Heritage Site. A local Mohammad Idris told that the tourists visiting the Lumbini area are forced to find bushes to answer the nature’s call.
A local Narayan Sapkota said, “There is a toilet in front of the Maya Devi temple but the tourists hesitate to go there due to lack of repair and cleanliness of the toilet.” “The tourists have been facing problem due to lack of Public Information Centre to provide information about the existing toilets,” he added.
Planning chief of Lumbini Development Trust Temba Sherpa admitted to lack of toilets in the area. Considering the toilet problems faced by the tourists, the Trust had constructed a toilet in the restricted area of the Holy Garden last year but it is not in use now. “The toilet has not been used yet as its construction is not according to the master plan,” said Sherpa, adding, “We have not been able to construct toilet due to lack of budget but toilet is in our priority list.”
Member secretary of the Trust Rajendra Thapamagar told that the Trust has not been able to construct physical infrastructures and toilets due to small amount of budget allocation by the government. The master plan prepared by famous Japanese architect Professor Kenjo Tange states to construct five toilets including four in central canal and one in the restricted holy garden area.

Source: Annapurna Post, June 7, 2009