By Jan Sewa Welfare
Representative image.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the city鈥檚 municipal bodies for their failure to maintain public toilets, calling the situation 鈥渉urting and unfortunate鈥 and accusing civic agencies of 鈥渃omplete apathy and insensitivity鈥, TOI has reported. A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela made the observations while hearing a PIL filed by Jan Sewa Welfare Society. The NGO sought directions for the provision of clean, functional public toilets equipped with basic amenities like water and electricity across Delhi. 鈥淲e are staking claim to host the Olympics, and we don’t even have clean public toilets in the city,鈥 the bench said, expressing deep concern over the poor state of sanitation infrastructure. The court noted that municipal agencies, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and Delhi Development Authority (DDA), had displayed a 鈥渃omplete apathy, insensitivity and even dereliction of duty鈥 in maintaining public conveniences. 鈥淭hese agencies need not be reminded repeatedly that under law it is their primary responsibility to provide adequate public conveniences,鈥 the bench said.Live Events Following earlier court directions, the civic bodies had submitted status reports outlining their steps on the issue. However, the petitioner鈥檚 counsel presented recent images and reports indicating that the situation remained largely unchanged. 鈥淎fter all, the municipal bodies and development agencies are created by the legislature for the benefit of the general populace and they function on public money. It is hurting and unfortunate to note the conditions of toilets,鈥 the bench said. The judges questioned whether officials responsible for sanitation ever used the facilities themselves. 鈥淚f they were forced to use them, these conveniences would be ‘spanking clean’ in no time,鈥 they remarked. Highlighting the disproportionate impact on women, the bench added, 鈥淕iven such a state of public utilities available in the city, the problems being faced by women get compounded for obvious reasons.鈥 The court, as per TOI report, has now directed the MCD, NDMC and DDA to escalate the matter to the 鈥渉ighest level鈥 and come up with comprehensive, expert-based plans for public toilet maintenance in their respective areas. These plans must include actionable recommendations and ensure that the public utilities remain functional at all times.(With inputs from TOI)(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onDelhi High Courtpublic toiletsmunicipal bodies DelhiJan Sewa Welfare SocietyMCDNDMCOlympics Delhiolympics in indiaclean public toiletsindia olympics(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless
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