No toilets on our land, says Railways

On one hand the government is aggressively promoting the adaptation and use of public toilets on one hand, and on the other hand a big government run establishment like railways objects to the idea literally.

The Delhi High Court on Friday pulled up Northern Railway for objecting to setting up of pre-fabricated toilets on its land in the Shakur Basti area in west Delhi for the people living in the slums. The apex court had earlier directed setting up toilets in the area. “The court fails to appreciate the reluctance of the Northern Railway to implement the direction of May 12, 2017,” a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vibhu Bakhru observed while hearing a contempt plea moved by Congress leader Ajay Maken claiming that the apex court's order was not implemented.

In its defence, the railways submitted that there were toilets near the Mansarovar Park flyover and added that as per its latest policy of Aug 9 regarding toilets for encroachers, only mobile toilets can be provided. The bench rubbished the railway's contention and asked, “How will the people reach there? By taking a bus or a metro?” The bench said that the toilets that the railway was referring to were in east Delhi while the slum was in west Delhi.

The bench then issued notices to Northern Railway and the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) seeking their stand on the plea seeking contempt action against them. The DUSIB, in its defence, told the court that it had identified four locations, in a joint inspection with the officials of Northern Railway, for setting up the toilets.

It directed Northern Railway to allow installation of the pre-fabricated toilets on its land in the Shakur Basti area for the people living there, saying it was a necessity in monsoon. It also ordered the railway to cooperate with DUSIB .