BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Monday directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to conduct a study to know how many public toilets are required for Bengaluru.
The direction came after a PIL claimed that there were not enough public toilets in Bengaluru and the existing ones were not properly maintained.
A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty passed the order after hearing the public interest litigation filed by city-based Letzkit Foundation.Directing the BBMP to submit an action plan before January 9, 2021, the bench specified that the plan should have the details like facilities provided in existing public toilets and whether cleanliness and hygiene are maintained.
The bench indicated that it will issue directions to the state government to extend the scheme to other urban local bodies after examining the plan to be submitted by the BBMP on or before January 9.
The petitioner has sought directions to BBMP to provide sufficient number of public toilets both paid as well as for free usage and ensure that those toilets are kept clean as per the guidelines prescribed under the Swachh Bharat Mission launched by the Union government.
The petitioner also contended that as per the guidelines of the Swachh Bharat Mission, Bengaluru required 1,100 public toilets and a toilet complex set up every 7 km. However, as per the information available on the BBMP website, Bengaluru has only 479 toilets constructed between 1965 and 2014.