The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to file a status report on a petition filed by a JD(U) councillor from Govindpuri, blaming the civic body for unhygienic condition of public toilets and surroundings in his area.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru called for a report from SDMC and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) on the status and maintenance of civic amenities by August 1.
The direction came on a writ petition filed by Councillor Chander Prakash Yadav against the Delhi Government, Commissioner MCD (South Delhi), Chairman of DUSIB, CEO of Delhi Jal Board and also the Commissioner of Police. In his petition, Yadav contended that the authorities concerned have “failed to perform their official duty in maintaining and ensuring a healthy, pleasant, clean and lawful environment in the area and its surroundings.”
Stressing on the need to improve the condition of public toilets in the area, Yadav, in the petition, said there is a serious problem of public toilets in Govindpuri area as they are dirty and stinking, making it impossible to enter. “One can smell the stink even from a distance. The condition of these toilets speaks volume about the complete absence of concern for duty on part of the respondents and their concerned officials,” the petition said. Blaming the civic bodies for negligence and slackness in their work, the petition demanded that notice be issued to the respondents to explain why they failed to perform their duties.
The counsel for the petitioner asked the bench to direct the bodies to immediately “start the repair and cleaning work of the toilets to make them usable and to ensure their proper and regular maintenance in the future.” The plea also said that the park near the public toilets is being used as an open toilet by the people residing in jhuggis nearby. “The out-of-order toilets have turned the parks into a gambling den. After sunset, some people indulge in all anti-social activities in the park, including drugs consumption,” alleged the petitioner.
SDMC to involve market bodies, RWAs in toilet maintenance
In order to maintain better sanitation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to involve Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and Market Associations under Public Private Partnership (PPP). Officials said the decision aims at ensuring better maintenance and cleanliness of toilet blocks. Also, this will generate revenue for the corporation as it will reserve the advertisement rights on the toilet blocks.
As of now, the Department of Environmental Management Services (DEMS) has the responsibility to clean and maintain the toilet blocks. "Keeping in view the heavy footfall of visitors in markets, like lajpat Nagar, Rajouri Garden, Kirti Nagar, the sanitation staff find it difficult to maintain the toilets properly," an official said. For this, he said, the corporation will pay the RWAs and the Market Trade Associations (MTAs) to maintain the public facilities.
The RWAs or MTAs will be responsible for maintenance of these toilet blocks. "They will be allowed to collect nominal charges from the users. The title of the interest, ownership and the right of display of advertisements or hoardings inside or outside the toilet complex will, however, be with the SDMC," the official said.
As per the plan, the corporation will auction the wall space of these public utilities for advertisements. The official added the new policy would address the problems wherein the private companies were accused of not maintaining the toilets, and many times even closing them, even as they earned huge revenue through advertisements.