JOIN USLady Shri Ram, Kamla Nehru and Gargi Colleges in south Delhi are among a group of educational institutions being considered as locations for setting up swanky all-women toilets by the municipal corporation.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation is planning to build new 94 toilets blocks and the ladies facilities near women colleges will be a part of the project, said Satish Upadhyay, Chairman of the Standing Committee.
“The shortage of toilet facilities for women has been a constant complaint of people. We are trying to address the issue fast,” said Upadhyay.
The civic agency has identified 94 sites under its four zones – South, Najafgarh, West and Central to construct public toilet units. According to the corporation, after various rounds of discussions, the Public Works Department (PWD) has accorded in-principle approval for construction of toilet blocks on PWD roads under its areas.
Chief Engineer Umesh Scahdeva said that the aim of the civic agency is to give better facilities to its people and the engineering department has taken all the clearances for the project.
The proposal for setting up 94 toilets was brought before the Standing Committee meeting on Tuesday but it was challenged by the councillors from both the ruling and opposition parties.
According to the project, the concessionaire will be responsible for the construction of the public toilets. “After a pre-fixed concession period of seven years, the toilet blocks will be handed back to the South Corporation,” the proposal said.
Leader of Opposition, Farhad Suri said, “The project is welcomed,it’s a good initiative but we haven’t learnt form our past mistakes. We have taken up the waterless urinals and high-end toilet projects in the past and handed them over to private players. Both of the projects failed and the corporation incurred heavy loses.”
“The corporation should construct these toilet complexes and run them on its own before engaging private players,” he added.
Even the BJP councillor from Vasant Vihar, Radey Shyam Sharma, said that when any project fails the concessionaire is let off.
“A heavy sum of money should be taken from the concessionaire as a security before giving handing him over the project. So that the corporation can deduct the amount from the security if the project fails,” Sharma added.
To which the Chairman of the Standing Committee replied, “We will look into the proposal again and try to remove all the bottlenecks.”