Petition filed on lack of toilets in Yamuna slum

◗ Despite Swachchh Bharat campaign, several slum residents continue to defecate in the open due to lack of toilets

The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and AAP government on a PIL claiming lack of toilet facilities in a slum near Yamuna despite the much publicised Swachchh Bharat drive on cleanliness.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar issued notice to the Centre, Delhi government, police, Delhi Development Authority and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board and directed them to inspect the slum and file a report on the situation there before August 28, the next date of hearing.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by three law students, Shabnam, Sonali Chauhan and Nitesh Kumar Mishra.

The students have said that the anganwadis were needed to provide nutritious food to the poor and deprived children of the slum.

The petition has claimed that despite thousands of crores of rupees being spent on Swachchh Bharat campaign, hundreds of slum residents are defecating in the open due to lack of toilets.

The plea also claimed that authorities were not providing the facilities on the ground that the slum was located on the river bed of Yamuna, despite the fact that there was a power grid and electric crematorium in the near vicinity.

Apart from the lack of toilet facilities, the plea has also claimed that the slum faces an acute drinking water problem due to lack of permanent supply, and water tankers never deliver water in time.