Minister writes to Chief Secretary on unhygienic toilets in Secretariat

Minister for Infrastructure and Information Roshan Baig has kicked up a row over unhygienic toilets in the Vidhana Soudha and the Vikasa Soudha here. After coming to know of the unbearable stench emanating from the toilets due to poor maintenance in the two buildings, Mr. Baig has dashed off a letter to Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, asking him to take immediate steps to repair dirty and leaking public toilets which have been causing inconvenience to visitors and officials.

On account of leaking sanitary pipes, toilets had become unhygienic, posing health hazards. The area around the wash basins and toilets in the Secretariat should be repaired and cleaned immediately, Mr. Baig told presspersons here on Thursday. “Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha are two prominent buildings, catering to the needs of the State administration. These buildings should become a model for other constructions in the State,” the Minister said.

There are only 504 public toilets in the city, and these too are unevenly distributed. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike maintains half of these. It has handed over the responsibility of maintenance of the other toilets to contractors, he said. Noting that the city’s population had touched nearly a crore, he said that there were not enough toilets. Besides, most of the public toilets were not functional. Based on the Delhi model, the Minister said, efforts would be made to construct adequate number of toilets in different parts of the city for the benefit of the public. “We will soon hold talks with the firm that constructed toilets in the national capital,” he said.

Mr. Baig also said that old and unused furniture have been dumped in the corridors of the Secretariat. Street dogs roam around the two buildings, he said. He said that officials of the Department of Personnel for Administrative Reforms provide vague replies stating that they have written to the BBMP seeking steps to check street dogs near the Secretariat. Mr. Baig urged the Chief Secretary to go around the two Secretariat buildings and direct the officials concerned to repair unhygienic toilets and clear unused furniture from the corridors to enhance the glory of the two buildings.

New infrastructure policy on the anvil

The State government has decided to bring out Infrastructure Policy 2014 to attract investment in the infrastructure sector, particularly rail, road and entertainment, in the next two months. Addressing presspersons here on Thursday, Minister for Infrastructure and Information Roshan Baig said that the new policy would be formulated after consultations with all stakeholders, including trade and industry bodies.