HC directs formation of committee on toilet issue in Capital

New Delhi, Jan 17 (UNI) The Delhi High Court today directed the Delhi Government to form a committee headed by the state Chief Secretary with representatives from the Municipal bodies for providing disabled-friendly and hygienic toilets in the capital.

A division bench, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, asked the Chief Secretary to convene a meeting with the high level officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi(MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Committee(NDMC) for providing hygienic and disabled-friendly toilets.

''The maintenance of the toilets is poor and they are unhygienic and immediate steps should be taken to clean them,'' said the court.

The authorities should take steps to construct more toilets in various parts of the capital in accordance with the density of population in the locality, directed the court.

Adjourning the matter till February 2, the Court asked the MCD Commissioner and the MCD Chief Engineer to file an action taken report (ATR) in affidavit.

Senior officers of the MCD, NDMC and Delhi Jal Board (DJB) were present in the court with a proposed plan.

The Court Committee comprising Advocate Ashok Agrawal submitted that the captial had 3192 urinals, out of which only 132 had facilities for women.

''There was a failure on the part of the MCD to provide adequate number of well maintained urinals for women in every zone. It is violation of fundamental rights and human rights of women guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution,'' said the report.

The report said Narela, Najafgarh, Rohini, Civil Lines, West and Karol Bagh zones did not have any toilets for women.

The Court asked the municipal authorities to come with a proposal for constructing specially designed toilets for physically-disabled persons.

''The Court can not lose sight of the facts that majority section and poor pay for the maintenance of the toilets,'' the order said.

It was the statutory obligation of the MCD to construct these toilets as a part of the public utility system, said the Judges.

The Court directed the Committee with three members to visit the washrooms and its adjoining areas in Karol Bagh, Rohini and Najafgarh to file a status report on its conditions and socio-economic conditions of the people.

UNI