Pune: All 14 E-Toilets Set Up By PMC Are Closed; MNS Protests

Pune, 19th January 2022: In a survey conducted by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) it has come to light that all the 14 e-toilets set up in Pune city are closed.

The e-toilets are closed even after the tender for maintenance and repairs has been issued. The use of e-toilets has also been declining in the last three years due to administrative negligence.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) set up 14 e-toilets at various places in the city. The automated e-toilets have been set up with the help of former MP Anil Shirole’s MP Development Fund.

The toilets are at Jangli Maharaj Road, Ferguson College Road, Model Colony, Hirwai Garden, Bhairoba Nala, Gokhalenagar, Ramoshi Vasti, Kamgar Putla, Mavale Aali at Karvenagar, Vimannagar, Rajaram Pul, Nilayam Cinema, Wadia College, Senapati Bapat Road.

Twelve of these toilets are for women and two are for men. The management and maintenance of these state-of-the-art toilet facilities were outsourced to a private company. The contract with the company expired during the pandemic period, after which the e-toilet was shut down.

Although e-toilets are being charged for use, the use of toilets has also increased due to convenience, safety, sophistication, and so on. Unmanned sanitation and automated systems are the unique features of toilets.

Recently, all the toilets are closed.

Speaking about this, MNS city president Vasant More said,”Currently the toilets are in a bad condition. Coin boxes in many e-toilets have been smashed and in some places, there is a lack of infrastructure. As a result, the e-toilets are lying unused. Meanwhile, two out of 14 toilets were claimed to be closed by the municipal solid waste management department. We agitated against this at all fourteen places.”

Two crore rupees were spent on the construction of toilets. After that, the administration was planning to pay Rs 18 lakh annually to a company under the guise of maintenance and repairs. The places where toilets have been installed in the city are all in the wards of BJP corporators. Therefore, this expenditure should be recovered from the development fund of the concerned corporators, More demanded.