If public toilets not maintained, will people use them: HC

An annoyed Delhi High Court today criticised authorities responsible for maintaining public toilets in the city, saying if they do their job properly, people would not have to come to courts.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar came down hard on the authorities after they said that people come to the court for every small thing.
The court was hearing a plea by Nirmal Gorana, in which he has said that authorities should be held accountable for violating constitutional and legislative guarantees to people.
Their failure to maintain public toilets have denied the residents of Bhat Camp in Badarpur proper sanitation, he said.

Displeased by the contention of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) on the matter, the bench said: "If you maintain toilets properly, the public will never come to courts". The bench also issued notice to the authorities.
It ordered the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the DUSIB and the Delhi Jal Board to ensure that public toilets at Bhat Camp were immediately restored for use.

Gorana had said in the plea that residents in the area lack basic access to sanitation, including clean drinking water and free-to-use toilets.
Highlighting the plight of women and children, he had urged the court to direct the authorities to ensure that sanitation was maintained and clean drinking water was made available to Bhat Camp residents.

It urged the court to order the DUSIB to renovate public toilets, including those for persons with disability, and also to appoint a person to maintain them.