MANGALURU: Owners of nearly three dozen petty shops and traffic cops manning traffic under Kuloor flyover had heaved a sigh of relief when the work on Mangaluru City Corporation’s (MCC) toilet complex for both men and women neared completion.
Their hopes that the new toilet would end the days of open urinating and defecation however came crashing down with MCC not responding with the same urgency. “The work on toilet complex was completed weeks ago. Yet the toilets remain locked preventing public from using them,’’ laments an elderly vendor who runs a tea shop near the toilet complex.
However, on Tuesday an audio clipping of MCC official insisting that the doors of public toilet were not thrown open to public as the inauguration of toilet complex would be a violation of election model code of conduct went viral on social platform. Assistant executive engineer (AEE) Ravi Shankar, in the audio clip, asserts that the facility can’t be used without an inaugural programme.
An activist, Sashidar Shetty, who uploaded his conversation with Ravi Shankar onto the social platform, described the non-utilisation of a toilet as sheer waste of tax payer’s money. In the audio clipping, Shetty is keen on knowing on how the toilet complex would be inaugurated. Just as guests enjoyed dishes during the inauguration of Indira Canteen, will they use the toilet and declare it open to public ?,’’ he asks.
In the clip, MCC official attempts to wriggle out from the situation by promising to bring the issue to the attention of MCC commissioner. Kuloor corporator Dayananda Shetty informs that the toilet complex was built at a cost of `8 lakh is awaiting power connection. “The toilet in the area is a long pending demand from public and it will open once its gets electricity connection,’’ he adds.