Five years after the Commonwealth Games, Delhi is stuck with physical reminders of how the public toilet projects that came up then went wrong.
The then-unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi had come up with two types of public conveniences – high-end toilets and waterless urinals – both of which failed to take off. Keeping in mind the number of visitors coming to the Capital, the MCD had come up with a plan for high-end toilets in March 2010.
The 216 air-conditioned toilets-cum-commercial complexes were supposed to have modern amenities for users on the ground floor, and cafes and shops on the first floor for the private concessionaire to generate revenue. The MCD floated a tender and nine bidders came forward to make one model each, based on which the entire 30-year contract would have been allotted.
But by August 2010, objections poured in from residents’ groups and the MCD admitted there were land-use issues, forcing it to scrap the project. The bidders who had invested money to build the models moved court seeking compensation. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation, under whose jurisdiction eight of the models were made, set up an inquiry in 2013. The High Court also instructed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe the matter in 2012.
The high-end toilets were built on busy roads and markets, including Defence Colony, Greater Kailash and Model Town, but were never used. The SDMC is now considering paying the bidders and taking possession of the complexes to turn them into fruit and vegetable shops, among other things.
“The matter is sub judice so I won’t comment on the project. But, the court asked us what our plan was and we have informed it of the alternate uses for the high-end toilets. We will have to wait till the court decides,” said Radhey Shyam Sharma, chairperson of the SDMC Standing Committee.
A total of 403 waterless urinals also came up across Delhi in 2010, but the project was flawed from the beginning. A senior Engineering Department official said the idea was to build the urinal blocks and then hand over operation and maintenance to advertisers, who would generate revenue by putting up publicity material on the buildings’ façades. It was supposed to be quick and easy as no water connections and pipelines were required; the urinals were supposed to be cleaned with chemicals and occasionally washed with water.
“The advertisers were not interested in running the urinal blocks. They were supposed to clean the blocks regularly, but they just put up advertisements,” said the official.
The three municipalities that took over from the MCD ended up terminating the contracts and taking back possession of the water-less urinals. The urinals are now being converted to conventional ones, with water connections being added.
Farhad Suri, Leader of the Opposition in the SDMC, said: “All the toilet projects have been failures, but no one has been held responsible even today.”
