Karnataka High Court Directs KSLSA To Conduct Survey On Condition Of Public Toilets In Bengaluru City

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum said,

"Member secretary of the authority shall conduct a survey in respect of toilets, their conditions, including the fact whether water is available therein and whether they are cleaned regularly, a detailed report be filed within four weeks."

The direction was given while hearing a petition filed by Letzkit Foundation. The petitioner has relied upon the provisions of Section 245 of the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976 which obligates the Corporation to provide and maintain in proper and convenient places, a sufficient number of public privies.

Reliance is also placed on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 47 of the Constitution of India to contend the respondents, and in particular Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is required to set up adequate number of public privies.

In a previous order, the court had said,

"In the context of Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the third respondent will have to also state whether any exercise has been done to determine how many separate privies are required for women and especially, women walking on the streets. The steps taken to keep the existing public privies clean and safe shall also be placed on record."

Earlier, a report prepared by the All India Institute of Local Self Government was submitted to the court which records that when compared to the toilet facilities in other similar cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, the proportion of toilets available in Bengaluru is low. Moreover, the issue of poor maintenance of community toilets is also highlighted and recommendations have been made to review the operation and maintenance arrangements for community toilets for increasing their usability and eventually better access for the local population.

Case Title: Letzkit Foundation R And Union Of India

Case No: WP 10823/2020