Legal wrangles delay setting up of bus stops, toilets in the city

Kochi Corporation had plans to set up 52 bus stops

Efforts to set up of public toilets and bus stops in the city have been caught in legal battle, denying much needed facilities to the city dwellers.

If it is the dispute with the Public Works Department over the right to set up bus stops in the city roads that has delayed the bus shelter project, some individuals have obtained injunctions from courts against the opening of public toilets in the city.

Initially, the Kochi Corporation had plans to set up 52 bus stops in the city and the work orders were awarded to two agencies. One of them had fabricated 10 such units when the dispute broke out. As the issue reached the court, the bus stop project got delayed, said Kochi corporation authorities.

Challenging the move of the Kochi corporation authorities, the PWD authorities said that the corporation was trying to usurp its rights to establish the shelters.

The PWD has absolute right to set up bus stops on the roads owned by the agency and no other agency can interfere with that right, said P.I. Jose, the executive engineer of the department. Regarding the existing bus stops, all that the department attempted was to renovate and repair the dilapidated ones in the city. While allotting and setting up bus stops on the PWD roads, the department needs to get the clearance from the Motor Vehicle department and the police, he said.

Besides the existing ones, the department had sanctioned nearly 15 new ones too. There are no attempts to solve the issue through out of the court settlements, Mr. Jose said.

‘No mandate'

On their part, the civic authorities said that the Kerala Municipalities Act empowered the local bodies to construct the bus shelters in their respective areas. The PWD didn't have the mandate for setting up the shelters, said a civic administrator.

The efforts of the civic authorities to set up public toilets had to be met with stiff public resistance. The non-availability of land in prime locations hit the project hard. Some individuals also took up the matter to the courts and obtained injunction against the projects, he said.

‘Make toilets accessible'

At the same time, one of the civic administrators said that the shops and other commercial establishments in the city should make the toilets in their buildings accessible to people. Earlier, the petrol pump owners in the city had agreed to keep the toilets in their establishments operational.

A meeting of the shop owners would be convened shortly to discuss the issue, he said.