Startling revelations made in a survey of public conveniences in Delhi conducted by Shahna Sheikh, have compelled the Delhi high court to reprimand the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC).
NEW DELHI: Startling revelations made in a survey of public conveniences in Delhi conducted by Shahna Sheikh, a final year student of economics at Lady Sri Ram (LSR) College, have compelled the Delhi high court to reprimand the Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC).
Sheikh, in her report, Public Toilets in Delhi —An emphasis on the Facilities for Women in Slum Areas, conducted between May and July 2008 said Delhi has only 132 urinals for women, a majority of them dilapidated.
She prepared her report on the public conveniences system across Delhi, primarily in the slums and outskirts of the capital as part of her summer internship with a city based NGO, Centre for Civil Society (CCS).
Realising the pitiable state of a basic amenity like public toilets in a city, which would host the Commonwealth Games in 2010, Sheikh decided to move court. As per her report, the DMC in its 2007 report had claimed that there are 3,192 public conveniences in Delhi. However, after surveying the length and breadth of Delhi, Sheikh found only 1,534 toilets.
A division bench of the Delhi high court comprising chief justice Ajit Prakash Shah and justice S Muralidhar asked the civic body to take serious note of Sheikh’s findings and recommendations. The bench has also asked the DMC to compile a detailed report within four weeks on the state of public conveniences in Delhi and the steps being taken to improve it.
Sheikh’s survey states there are only 14-16 toilets for 40,000 people in Sanjay Colony near Okhla. In Kusumpur, in the Vasant Vihar area, there are only 30 toilets for 30,000 people. Similarly, Rajiv Camp in the Trans Yamuna area has 15 toilets for 3,000 and Madanpur Khadar has 302 for 1,50,000 people.
“We are preparing ourselves for the Commonwealth Games and it’s horrible that the city’s civic agency doesn’t even perform its basic duties. It’s a violation of the citizens’ rights, especially of women, who have no option but to defecate in the open,” said advocate Ashok Agarwal, counsel in the case.
y_puneet@dnaindia.net
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