The Hindu            30.10.2013

Public toilets to go PPP way

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has finally woken up to the need for well-maintained toilets across the city.

Mayor
B.S. Sathyanarayana not just committed to sanctioning funds from his
grant to construct public toilets in each ward, but also directed the
Commissioner to explore the possibility of maintaining the existing
toilets on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

The
issue was raised by Jayamahal councillor M.K. Gunashekar, who pointed
out that of 502 public toilets, only 220 were in working condition,
while there were no toilets in the newly added areas. The BBMP is
obligated to provide toilets as part of social infrastructure in the
city as per the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976. As per a
survey, he claimed that the city needs at least 15,000 toilets.

Siddapur
councillor M. Udayshakar suggested that the BBMP take up construction
of public toilets under PPP. He said that the agencies could be allowed
to put up advertisement hoardings on the toilets and maintain the
toilets.

BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan agreed
and said the BBMP would float expression of interest from agencies to
maintain the existing toilets.

Garbage

Not
too long ago, amid much fanfare, 22 wards were declared garbage-free.
This was even announced at a programme launched by Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah. Pattabhiramanagar councillor C.K. Ramamurthy pointed out
that there was hardly any progress on field. Though the officials send
monthly reports from these wards, heaps of garbage still remains strewn
around, he alleged.

Jnanabharati councillor
Govindaraju concurred and said that the new contractor, BVG India Ltd.,
neither had the men nor material to clear garbage from the wards
assigned to the company.

Padarayanapura councillor
Nazni Begum too complained about the inefficiency of the new contractor.
She claimed garbage was being dumped into the storm-water drain.

Earlier
in the day, Nandini Layout councillor M. Nagaraj staged a dharna in the
well demanding a solution to the ineffective garbage collection in his
ward.

Mr. Lakshminarayan said that the BBMP had
cancelled the old contracts in 41 packages covering 93 wards. The BBMP
officials were now managing the show in these wards. He added that the
garbage tenders have been floated and will be opened following
permission from the High Court.

Help centres

The
help centres that were recently closed may soon reopen in parts of the
city. This was what Mr. Lakshminarayan assured the councillors on
Tuesday. Earlier, J.P. Park councillor B.R. Nanjundappa claimed that the
tax collected from his ward had dropped to a large extent after the
help centre was closed. He said that the tax payers were being put
through a lot of hardship as they were now forced to go to Yeshwanthpur.

Responding,
the Commissioner said that the BBMP had provided tax payment facility
through over 450 bank branches in the city. Citizens may also pay tax
through the BangaloreOne centres. “However, if a minimum transaction is
assured and wherever there is genuine need, we can explore the
possibility of reopening the help centre,” he said.