💬 Took my mother to Begum Bazaar on Saturday and couldn't find one usable toilet

Took my mother shopping in Begum Bazaar last Saturday and we had to cut it short for one reason. About an hour in she needed a toilet. We could not find a single usable one. First one had no water. Second one, broken lock and a smell you could feel from outside. Ended up driving 20 minutes to a mall just so she could use a clean bathroom. Then we went home. I grew up in Dubai and only moved here in 2022, so maybe I'm spoiled about this. There every metro station and mall had a clean one. You never had to plan your day around it. Here I've noticed my mother drinks less water when we go out. On purpose. She told me that's normal. Apparently a lot of older women do the same. Mothers with small kids too. Nobody really talks about it. Paid ones at railway stations and some malls are fine, mostly. Smaller markets and bus stops, either there's nothing or there's something nobody can use. And sometimes there is a decent one but no board saying so. Found one in a lane on the way back. I'd walked past that lane twice. 5 rupee charge, water, working lock, someone cleaning. That's all I'd want. Is there any area in Hyderabad where you've found decent public toilets outside the malls? Or does GHMC just build them once and forget about them completely after that? Asking because my mother wants to go back next week for my cousin's wedding shopping. This time I'm checking the map for toilets before we even leave the house.

We have the same problem in Begum Bazaar and Sultan Bazar, where the public toilets are either locked or too dirty to use. My mother in law carries a small water bottle and tissues now, and we plan trips around cafes that let customers use the washroom. You are right, it should not need a plan. Did you report it on the GHMC app with photos of the toilet?

In the Charminar area last month, it took me quite a while to find a public toilet, and the one I found wasn't well maintained either. This problem is felt even more while travelling with family, especially for women and the elderly who need it urgently and find it hard to wait. I also tried a list on Google Maps but that had a lot of outdated entries too, for places that had shut down.