CHENNAI: Patients and attendants visiting the newly constructed super speciality building at the Government Periyar Hospital in Periyar Nagar in Kolathur have raised complaints over unusable and locked restrooms, barely a year after the facility was inaugurated.
The six-floor building, constructed at Rs 210.80 crore, was inaugurated on February 27, 2025, by the Chief Minister MK Stalin with assurances of advanced amenities. The structure includes dedicated restrooms for attendants accompanying patients. However, most of these facilities remain either locked or damaged.
At present, only the women’s restroom on the ground floor and the common restroom on the first floor remain accessible. On the second floor, restrooms for men and women are open, but the facility designated for persons with disabilities is locked. On the third and fourth floors, restrooms for men, women and persons with disabilities are all locked. On the fifth and sixth floors, only the restrooms meant for persons with disabilities are accessible, while those for men and women remain locked.
Irrespective of whether they are open or closed, many of the restrooms are reportedly in poor condition. Several western toilet seats are broken and unusable. Faucet guns and taps have been damaged, and water leakage has been observed in some restrooms. Inadequate cleaning, foul odour and broken fixtures have further compounded the problem.
Elango, an attendant of a male patient on the fourth floor, highlighted that even visitors from outside are forced to use restrooms inside the wards as the common facilities remain inaccessible. “Toilets in the wards are also in an unusable condition with damaged taps. Otherwise, visitors have no other option but to go to the first floor. Empty alcohol bottles, cigarette packs and other waste materials are found piled up on the window ledge,” he noted.
When contacted, the Resident Medical Officer said some restrooms had been locked temporarily due to damage caused by improper usage and water leakage. The hospital’s maintenance department has been informed, and repair works will be completed within two or three days, the official added.