In Colombo, toilets are missing from urban development plans, putting women’s health at risk

When public toilets are missing from an urban development plan, sanitation is not treated as essential infrastructure. Planners may describe roads, sidewalks, buildings, and public spaces without identifying toilet locations, capacity, maintenance, or users’ needs. The result is a city designed for movement but not basic bodily needs.

Colombo’s City Development Plan for 2022–2031 promises safer, more convenient sidewalks and a better public realm. Yet the 462-page document makes no mention of public toilets. This gap matters especially to commuters, workers, pregnant people, and menstruating women who cannot simply postpone using a toilet.

Colombo has about 500,000 daily workers entering the city but only 15 working public toilets. The Urban Development Authority and Colombo Municipal Council are involved in toilet provision, but planning documents and responsibilities remain incomplete. Future urban plans need to include toilets as measurable, funded facilities rather than leaving them to scattered projects.

Colombo’s public toilet supply is extremely small compared with its daily commuter population. The city has 15 working public toilets for about 500,000 workers who enter each day. The Global Public Toilet Index places Colombo at about three public toilets per 100,000 people.

The comparison with Chiang Mai, Thailand, is striking. Chiang Mai has about 92 public toilets per 100,000 people, making it the index’s “global capital of public toilet access.” Colombo’s much lower figure shows that the problem is not simply inconvenience. It is a major gap between population movement and public facilities.

The 15 Colombo toilets have not been upgraded since 2019, according to Mayor Vraie Cally Balthazaar. New plans include facilities near Mount Lavinia Railway Station and Pettah Central Bus Station. These sites could improve access because both have high commuter footfall, but construction and long-term maintenance will determine whether the numbers translate into usable toilets.

Without a clean, usable toilet, women may delay changing menstrual pads, avoid drinking water, or leave work to find a bathroom. These choices can affect health, income, and attendance. They also make ordinary work and commuting harder, especially when toilet access is blocked, locked, or restricted.

Sumithra Randenigala travels two hours by train to Colombo. The train toilet may be locked or blocked, and security guards cannot use the office toilet. After painful urinary tract infections, she sometimes forfeits her daily pay rather than risk another infection and a possible week of unpaid sick leave.

This is both a health and employment problem. Colombo’s 15 working public toilets serve a daily floating population of about 500,000 workers, and they have not been upgraded since 2019. Planned toilets near major transport hubs could reduce these harms, but they must be clean, open, accessible, and maintained.

In Colombo, inadequate toilets affect women differently because many women in the workforce are of reproductive age. They may need facilities for menstrual care or pregnancy-related needs. A shortage therefore affects more than comfort. It can shape whether women drink water, remain at work, or complete a full commute.

Menstruating workers need to change pads regularly and dispose of them safely. Sumithra Randenigala knows this because she learned about urinary tract infections at school. Yet locked train toilets and workplace restrictions leave her choosing between an infection risk and lost wages. Heat adds another pressure: researchers at the Colombo Urban Lab say women may drink less or travel home to find a bathroom.

These are gendered effects of urban planning, not individual failures. Colombo’s public realm plan focuses on streetscapes and sidewalks but omits toilets. Adding accessible facilities near stations, bus terminals, and workplaces would help women participate more safely and reliably in city life.

Colombo’s public toilet decisions involve the Colombo Municipal Council, or CMC, and the Urban Development Authority, or UDA. Shared involvement can bring more expertise and resources. But it can also make responsibility unclear when facilities are missing, outdated, or poorly maintained.

The article identifies no single organisation accountable for progress or lack thereof. The UDA points to Colombo’s 2022–2031 development plan, yet that 462-page plan does not mention public toilets. The mayor says Colombo’s 15 toilets have not been upgraded since 2019. These details show how sanitation can fall between institutions.

Clear ownership would make it easier to set targets, choose sites, fund construction, and monitor upkeep. The Clean Sri Lanka project now places the UDA over toilet construction, while the Western Province manages implementation around Colombo. This may improve coordination, but lasting accountability still requires visible responsibility for access, cleanliness, and maintenance.

Improving access requires toilets in places people already use, reliable opening hours, and a plan for cleaning and repairs. Transport hubs are especially important because commuters may spend hours travelling. Funding also needs to cover ongoing operation, not only construction.

The Clean Sri Lanka project aims to use existing petrol stations for 1,500 new toilets nationwide. In greater Colombo, proposed sites include Mount Lavinia Railway Station and Pettah Central Bus Station, both selected for high commuter footfall. Another model under discussion would attach a shopfront to toilet blocks and use shop income for maintenance.

The project is funded by the government and corporate sponsors, while the UDA oversees construction. These approaches could expand access quickly and create a maintenance stream. Their success will depend on whether toilets remain open, clean, safe, and usable for women, commuters, workers, and people with different needs.

Safe sanitation is a basic public-health need because people cannot remain healthy while routinely lacking a clean place to use the toilet or manage menstruation. Toilets support hygiene, privacy, and regular bodily care. When access fails, people may change their behaviour in ways that create new health risks.

Sumithra Randenigala learned about urinary tract infections and understands the importance of changing her pad frequently. Because train toilets are locked or blocked and guards cannot use the office toilet, she has experienced painful UTIs. She sometimes accepts lost pay rather than risk another infection and unpaid sick leave.

Holding urine can cause discomfort and may contribute to urinary problems. Drinking less water can worsen dehydration, especially in heat. Delaying pad changes can cause irritation and raise infection concerns. Colombo’s limited facilities therefore affect public health, work, and income. Clean, open toilets near transport and workplaces are a practical response.