Delhi HC gives last opportunity to civic bodies to file reply on plea seeking proper cleanliness in public urinals
Dec 11, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 11 : The Delhi High Court on Monday granted the last opportunity to civic bodies including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other respondents to file their reply/affidavits on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking direction to ensure that the public urinals and sanitary are clean with proper availability of clean water and electricity supply.
The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna directed the authorities concerned to take all possible steps, raised in a plea concerning poor maintenance of public toilets which are set up at various places for public convenience.
On the last date of the hearing, the Court issued notice to all respondents in the matter and asked them to file their responses on the grievance raised in the petition. The court had also directed the concerned Municipal bodies to file a status report in this regard.
The plea was moved by an NGO namely Jan Seve Welfare Society through its president Ajay Aggarwal and sought directions to respondent authorities to initiate steps for the construction of more public urinals strategically throughout the area of NCT of Delhi and to inspect all available and functionally constructed public urinals.
Petitioner NGO, through Advocate Banke Bihari, alleged that the general public in Delhi faces lot of troubles due to poor maintenance of public toilets which are set up at various places for public conveniences.
The plea also stated that the public urinals are not properly maintained as there is a lack of hygiene there, often proper sanitation is lacking which causes a disgusting atmosphere and is also likely to cause infectious diseases and, thus, it may cause societal hazards.
Clean public urinals are a fundamental right protected by the Constitution of India. Not only is hygiene an important consideration, but public urinals also serve as a necessity in any functional society in this day and age. Furthermore, it becomes the duty of the state machinery to ensure that clean and sanitary urinals are accessible to the common people and citizens, said the petitioner.
In 2014, the Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) as a flagship program on sanitation and public health. To meet the goals set forth under the said scheme, it is pertinent to ensure the availability and access to clean public urinals, especially in the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi).
In order to achieve the goals set forth by the Prime Minister through the SBM, there is an urgent and necessary requirement to improve the conditions and cleanliness of public urinals.
As the administrative capital of the country, the GNCT of Delhi should be a flag bearer in our march towards an egalitarian society wherein clean and hygienic sanitation facilities are available to the citizens and non-citizens, the plea stated.
