Kolkata has smelliest public toilets, Delhi in second spot

New Delhi: A survey has found that the Indian city of Kolkata has the smelliest public toilets in the country, followed by Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.

The survey conducted by the travel site HolidayIQ revealed that 95% of Indian travellers demanded more public toilets, reported the Times of India.

For the study, Holiday IQ surveyed 10,000 travellers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Pune, where 70% of them revealed that they have changed their intended holiday destination as they were not satisfied with the current hygiene levels.

In the survey, 43% of travellers voted Kolkata as the city with the highest smelly loo, followed by Delhi with 32% votes. About 29% felt Chennai and Mumbai public toilets were smelly, while Hyderabad got 20% votes.

However, Pune and Bengaluru have been named as the cities with least smelly toilets at 18% and 14%, respectively.

Hari Nair, CEO of HolidayIQ, said, "The lack of access to sanitation affects travel, health, environment and economy. Access to cleaner toilets on a holiday is one of the key requirements of a traveller."

Inronically, places that have been voted as lacking cleanliness include Golden Temple, Amritsar; Nandi Hills, Karnataka; Golkonda Fort, Hyderabad; Mysore Palace, Karnataka; Humayun's Tomb, Delhi; Taj Mahal, Agra; Ajanta Ellora caves, Maharashtra; Princep Ghat, Kolkata, Qutab Minar, Delhi; Bada Imambara, Lucknow and Red Fort, Delhi.

World Toilet Day is being held on 19 November each year to motivate and people around the world on issues of sanitation. It was estimated in 2015 that 2.4 billion (about 1 out of 3 people) lack access to improved sanitation facilities, and just under 1 billion continue to defecate openly.