The Pissing Tanker is on a Mission to Stop Public Urination in India · Global Voices
Rezwan

The lack of public toilets in urban areas is a major cause of public urination in India. Image by the author.
Public urination is a problem in many South Asian countries, especially India. Its not uncommon to see men urinating in public on walls, alleys and corners. The lack of public toilets is an issue, but poor understanding of hygiene and public decency also contribute to the problem. Blogger Udaas Priest has a hilarious perspective on why Indian men urinate on public walls.
There have been many attempts to solve this issue by activists and different organizations, including public campaigns in Delhi, cleaning and painting the walls and maintaining them, and shaming offenders in Rajasthan by drumming and blowing whistles. But those efforts have not made a visible impact.
The question remains: “How can India stop people urinating in public?”
The Clean Indian, an anonymous anti-public urination activist group, has come up with one possible solution to stopping public urination in Mumbai.
In the above video uploaded to YouTube by The Clean Indian, you can see their Pissing Tanker in action. The group, whose members wear masks to conceal their identities, patrols Mumbai city with their giant yellow water tanker and sprays water on those urinating in public.
Their action has been greeted with mixed reactions from Indian netizens. Some supported the effort:
good idea.. but how can they take action for not providing public toilets? The Pissing Tanker: http://t.co/RZCdJM2ODp via @YouTube
— Cable Sankar (@cablesankar) May 3, 2014
Wow, if true, this is one idea. Though India also needs public urinals. The Pissing Tanker: https://t.co/udhbE9IWhf
— Nishant Dahiya (@nprnishant) May 2, 2014
The Pissing Tanker “You Stop, We Stop”: http://t.co/NtOdFWXqqH honestly, I've wanted to see this done since I was like 7. Opinions?
— Shāmbhavi (@Shamwoo) May 2, 2014
But not everyone was happy:
The Pissing Tanker – You Stop, We Stop http://t.co/lB0vowFY7B Entertaining, but clearly crossing the line, into vigilante justice.
— Karthik Srinivasan (@beastoftraal) May 2, 2014
Stupid attention-seekers. As if a colossal waste of tanker water can stop all of India from pissing in public. Go… http://t.co/hUT92n6Xn2
— Bijoy Venugopal (@bijoyv) May 2, 2014
Blogger Manish Agarwal argued that the tanker is not the right solution to stopping public urination. He listed some drawbacks of the idea:
There have been interesting debates surrounding the topic, whether it is a cultural issue rather than hygienic, whether it is a problem at all and whether people should bother. Comparing Indian practices with practices in other countries will not help much in the search for a solution. However, keeping walls maintained as well as increasing public awareness of cleanliness and health and safety issues certainly can't hurt.