BENGALURU: The National Safai Karmachari Commission on Wednesday paid a surprise visit to some of the pay-and-use toilets in the city. Agitated with the functioning and improper constructions, closure orders were issued to four of them on the spot. Jagadish Hiremani, member of National Safai Karmachari Commission, on the sidelines of the visit told TNIE that closure orders were issued for the toilets opposite KC General Hospital, near Rajiv Gandhi Statue (near Mantri Mall), near Harishchandra Ghat in Malleswaram and one RTO office in Rajajinagar.
“These toilets were shut down because no tenders were issued to construct them. They were constructed on the directions of the executive engineers for a five-year operation,” Hiremani said. He added that during the visit to most of the pay-and-use toilets, it was found that they weren’t operated by local safai karmacharis. There are also no locals deployed as manual scavengers.
It was also found that all the toilets were dirty. Apart from collecting maintenance charges from BBMP, the contractor also collected hefty money from citizens. There was no uniformity in charging people, and the rates depended on the area and the target set by the contractors.
Agitated by this, Hiremani said he will hold a meeting with all stakeholders on Thursday and submit a report to the chief minister on deploying locals in the stream as per government rules. It is also mandatory that family members of the deceased manual scavenger should get a job, but that also has not yet been followed.