Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Thursday sought a clear account from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on how it ensures cleanliness and regular maintenance of public toilets across the city, after being told that facilities under some civic departments lack maintenance contracts.
Badana also submitted that Nagpur should have about 460 public toilets based on current population estimates.
Instead, the court said the focus should be on whether public toilets were being kept clean and cleaned regularly. A division bench comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Rajnish Vyas was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Sundeep Badana, who has raised concerns over the poor condition and inadequate maintenance of public toilets. The bench, however, made it clear that awarding maintenance contracts was not a matter for judicial intervention, observing that such a direction could potentially benefit private contractors. During the proceedings, differences between global and national standards on toilet-to-population ratios came up, prompting the court to seek clarity from NMC on its own policy for determining the required number of public toilets. The petitioner has sought systemic measures to improve monitoring, including displaying contact details of nodal officers, GPS-based tracking of cleaning schedules and installation of CCTV cameras to prevent vandalism. He also proposes a digital feedback mechanism through QR codes at every public toilet.