Private firms not interested in maintenance of public toilets in Delhi, tender receives zero response, says civic body

New Delhi: Tenders were floated for corporate firms to become partners in sanitation work by taking up maintenance of public toilets but “no response” was received, a senior NDMC official said. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) official said, “We wanted to use the public-private-partnership model for the maintenance, so we had invited the sector. The tenders were floated a few months ago, but sadly not a single corporate entity has shown interest in maintaining the public toilets,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2365054” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The official lamented that many of these firms want to “build toilets” but not maintain them. “We thought it would be a win-win situation if they could help in upkeep of public conveniences through their CAR (corporate social responsibility) activities,” he said. Many tourist sites, including the famous Chandni Chowk in the historic Shahjehanabad area of Old Delhi, fall under the NDMC’s jurisdiction. Incidentally, the BJP-led civic body declared that from 31 December, all its 104 wards have become open defecation-free (ODF). Mayor Preety Agarwal has also said that the NDMC will carry out a feasibility survey to assess if the public toilets in its area can be opened during night time. “From 31 December, 2017, all 104 wards under the jurisdiction of the NDMC are open defecation-free. North corporation has adequate number of community and public toilets as per the yardsticks of the ‘Swachh Bharat’ mission,” she said. There are 314 community toilet complexes (CTCs), with 3,508 seats for men and 3,232 seats for women. Besides, there are 2,063 seats of men and 3,256 seats for women available in the public toilets, including ones at petrol pumps, restaurants, metro stations and DDA markets falling in the areas under the jurisdiction of the corporation, she said. When asked if there was any proposal to keep civic toilets open during night time also, Agarwal said, “Security is the main reason to keep our toilets closed at night. But we will do a feasibility survey to see if we can have security measures and keep the toilet open at nights too, so that people can benefit from it,” the mayor said. NDMC officials informed that 10 toilet blocks have been newly-built, while the others have had their facilities upgraded. Municipal commissioner Madhup Vyas, said, this open defecation free (ODF) achievement will “go a long way in improving the ranking” of the NDMC in the Swachh Survekshan ranking. In the Swachh Bharat reckoning of 434 cities for 2016-17, areas falling under the three municipal corporations were at a low — East Delhi Municipal Corporation (196), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (202) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (279). When asked if any penalty measures were being contemplated for offenders, who urinate or defecate in the open, the mayor said, “We have the ‘Roko Toko Seeti Bajao’ campaign, which will also educate people.” The NDMC has also decided to paint toilets that would be built for women in pink. At present there are 22 women toilets painted in pink.