Nirmala toilets: A case from bad to worse?

Nirmala toilets: A case from bad to worse?
deccan Herald

The City has 118 public toilets, but only 86 of them are functional. While stinking public toilets have become a rule rather than an exception, the situation might slip from bad to worse in the coming weeks.

The City has 118 public toilets, but only 86 of them are functional. While stinking public toilets have become a rule rather than an exception, the situation might slip from bad to worse in the coming weeks.

Reason: The Nirmala public toilets have been given to new contractors following complaints of bad service and the mounting arrears of BWSSB against the old contractors.

“We were forced to cancel the old contracts as they rendered poor service. We completed tendering in the East zone and the work orders for the South and West zones will be issued by December 15,” a senior BMP official said. However, the transition from the old contract to the new one is bound to be a nightmare for the citizens as the contract workers, as many as 300 of them, are a disgruntled lot.


“We have not been paid salaries for the last four months and now we are going to lose our jobs as the new contractors prefer cheap labour from outside Karnataka. The old contractors have withheld our payment stating that the BMP is yet to pay them,” M N Sriram, honourary president of BMP Safai Karmacharigala Pourakarmikara and Shouchalaya Suchigarara Sangha rued.

According to BMP officials, the contractors had not paid the BWSSB bills for four to six months, which amounted to more than Rs 15 lakh. “In the old contract, the BMP gave a monthly grant of Rs 10,000 per toilet. However, the contractors failed to manage the toilets well and they produced a huge water bill too,” said a BMP official.

Meanwhile the old contractors are holding the BMP responsible for the non-payment of salaries. “We are unable to pay the workers as the BMP has withheld our payment. The cost of maintenance of these toilets is also high,” Ramachandra of Integrity India, a contractor, claimed.