Monday, 30 August 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The operator of a public toilet at the old Tehsil premises, Sanjay Kumar has accused Dehradun Smart City Limited (DSCL) of constructing multiple smart toilets at the same location where many public toilets already exist. He alleged that the officials are wasting the government’s money and resources in building smart toilets at such places where the people do not require them. Kumar said that he is operating a public toilet in the premises of old Tehsil under public-private partnership (PPP) mode since the year 2002. He stated that he has signed a contract with Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) for the operation of this public toilet till the year 2032 where he has also set up a biogas plant. Kumar alleged that DSCL has started constructing a public toilet adjacent to the toilet he manages and also damaged the biogas plant in the process. “The public toilet I run is a 10 seat toilet. There is another toilet a few metres away on Dispensary Road and another at Rajeev Gandhi complex. There are at least two more public toilets in the area and now another toilet is being built just adjacent to this toilet. Out of these, three toilets are made under the smart city project.
What is the use of so many toilets at a single location? Rather than building several toilets within a 50 metres range, the government should build toilets at such locations where no toilets are available for several kilometres,” stated Kumar. He said that government agencies should focus on improving the condition of already existing toilets rather than building new multiple toilets within the same area. “I use biogas generated through the biogas plant in the premises for cooking and electricity. It was set up in 2002 and it can easily cook food for about 60 people on a daily basis. Such measures can be adopted by agencies to capitalise on the use of public toilets rather than constructing new toilets blindly. It affects the business of operators like us whose livelihood depends on the daily collection of money from the public toilet. I have written to the district magistrate and state government regarding this issue but have not received any concrete response. I along with nearby locals recently staged a protest against the authorities too and we will protest again if this construction will not be stopped soon,” said Kumar.
