NEW DELHI: The city may not have enough public toilets, but for Commonwealth Games, Municipal Corporation of Delhi is planning `7-star' ones for visitors.

The civic agency is proposing to construct 300 such toilets which will be so clean that you will be tempted to sit comfortably on the sofas inside and enjoy an ice-cream, according to MCD officials. These blocks will also consist of coffee shops, flower shops and fast-food joints.

According to MCD, 76 brands have already approached them for this project and they are willing to pay a year's rent in advance to take up space here. These toilets blocks will come up in market areas like South Extension, GK-I, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Karol Bagh etc and the civic agency will begin work on these toilet blocks within two months.

Said additional deputy commissioner remunerative projects cell Amiya Chandra: "Developers having a brand value of Rs 5,000 crore and above will construct these toilet blocks which will be better than the ones you have in 5-star hotels (hence 7-star). There will be coffee shops, fast-food joints etc within the same block. Housekeeping work will also be privatised. MCD will have little or no role to play in the functioning of these blocks. The developers will also maintain these toilet blocks for a period of 20 years.'' These toilet blocks will be made on built-operate-and-transfer basis.

The concept behind having coffee shops and eating joints functioning from within the block is that for their business to do well, the developers will have to ensure that the toilets are well-maintained. According to MCD, food courts in most malls are also built near toilets areas for this reason.

Said MCD commissioner K S Mehra: "The idea is to give the responsibility of running these toilet blocks to a company with an established brand image. This way, he will ensure cleanliness of these toilet blocks to ensure that he makes money out of this venture while ensuring that his reputation is not affected. People will only come in to have coffee here if there is no foul odour in the surrounding area. We will also allow advertising on these blocks for revenue generation besides being paid a certain amount by the developer of these blocks. They will be ready in record time much before Commonwealth Games.''

The cost of constructing one such block will be Rs 1 crore. The toilets will not have doors but transparent shutters. Various vending machines to take care of all your conveniences and an odo-meter to keep a check on foul smells will be installed. Said Chandra: "The design and choice of material will be done to ensure minimum consumption of electricity and water. There are existing toilets blocks in some markets while new ones will be built in others in varied sizes large, medium, small depending on space availability. People will be charged Rs 2 for using the toilet while regular users have the option of buying a toilet card.''

The MCD claims that their earlier plan of giving maintenance of these blocks to advertising agencies was not successful as the companies were only interested in advertising space outside the toilets. The civic agency had also come up with waterless toilets and had suggested making power from the urea released from these toilets. There are 1500-odd community toilet blocks in the city.

NEW DELHI: Though the cabinet meeting on Tuesday night "welcomed'' the central government decision to delegate some of its powers over MCD to the city government, it is certainly not something Sheila Dikshit and her ministers are content with.

The government plans to push for an amendment of the Act and a complete handover rather than piecemeal transfer of powers. The cabinet note pointed out how with both the home ministry and the L-G retaining some powers the multiplicity situation vis-a-vis MCD alone may actually get worse in the proposed set-up.

Said a senior official who was present in the meeting: "There are many grey areas as far as Delhi is concerned. We want clarity on this matter. We are writing to them saying this is a good beginning but the process must continue.'' Others were less diplomatic in their choice of words. Said a minister: "The city cannot have a system of parallel governance. After all we give them all their money. We are in the process of drafting the letter and will send it as soon as possible.''

Sources say powers of the central government are defined in 30 sections of the MCD Act of which 20 are now with the lieutenant governor. Twelve of these have been proposed to be given to the city government but eight will remain with the L-G. Powers under another four-five sections will continue to be vested with the central government. "Effectively where there were two levels at which MCD's functioning was earlier regulated, it will now become three. Even in case of a lot of the powers delegated to the city government, the proposal is that they will need the approval of the central government. That is something no government can be happy with. What is the point in giving conditional powers?'' asked a senior official.

Among the powers that will be handed over to the city government include that for delimitation of wards, making of contracts, functioning of ward committees and division of Delhi into zones. In exercising powers like the appointment of the commissioner or ordering dissolution of the civic agency, it needs the central government's nod. However it has been denied the general power to issue directions which the cabinet feels is a serious impediment in ensuring accountability. "It also needs to be clarified to the ministry that the delegation of powers already delegated to Lieutenant Governor and those now proposed to be delegated should be delegated to the chief minister. Else it will amount to perpetuating a situation whereby the subject of local bodies continues as a reserve subject,'' reads a note prepared for the cabinet.

The chief minister had in an interview to Times City some time back talked about how the L-G's powers meant that there was a parallel system of governance in the city. "We would have been okay if it was just about the central government and the city government. This complicated interplay of powers is hardly conducive to administration,'' said another official.