EVEN THE well-heeled with money to throw around are unlikely to lavish crores on their bathrooms. But Chandigarh Smart City Limited is different. The body, which is mandated with improving the quality of life of the citizens through e-governance solutions, is all set to shower its largesse on public toilets in four sectors of the city. Figure this: As many as 38 public toilets will be refurbished for a whopping Rs 4.42 crore, which works out to approximately Rs 14.50 lakh per toilet. And all this for a simple toilet with regular flooring, sanitary fittings and vending machines. UT Adviser Manoj Parida was not available for comment. Besides lavishing this sum on toilet renovation, the corporation is spending crores on the operation and maintenance of toilets wherein damaged floors and equipment is replaced at once. Every year, the corporation spends Rs 4.5 lakh per toilet for its maintenance. After there was controversy in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation over refurbishment of public toilets where irregularities were pointed out, the Chandigarh Smart City Limited floated tenders for refurbishing of public toilets in area-based development (ABD) of the smart city — sectors 17, 22, 35 and 43. The Smart City Limited is supposed to make the city smart by bringing smart facilities with decisions having bigger impact. According to the documents accessed by Chandigarh Newsline, 10 public toilets in Sector 17 will be renovated at a cost of Rs 1.45 crore which means Rs 14.5 lakh will be incurred on each toilet. The amount of Rs 4.42 crore was split in three different works for the tender. Then in Sector 22, around 16 toilets will be renovated at a cost of Rs 1.96 crore which again means Rs 12.25 lakh on each of them. In sectors 35 and 43 together, 12 toilets will be renovated at a cost of Rs 1.01 crore. The bid for these toilets has to be submitted by January 10. This tender was floated despite UT Administrator V P Singh Badnore suggesting that these public toilets should be maintained in PPP mode where not a single penny has to be spent by any of the agencies and in return they will be making revenue out of it when companies will pay for the advertisements they are allowed to put up there. Asked what was so special about these expensive public toilets, a senior officer of the Chandigarh Smart City Limited said, “There will be entry for the physically challenged as well. Also, there will be sanitary napkin vending machines in each of them.” Congress councillor Satish Kainth, who had already flagged off irregularities in the previous public toilet tenders floated by MC, said that he will raise the issue in the House. “Are they going to install luxury bath tubs and other accessories in these public toilets that they have to spend such a huge amount on it. It is interesting that two agencies will be making money out of it. One will mint on the plea of operation and maintenance and the other will be doing it in the name of refurbishment,” he said. “What was the need to do it when in PPP mode they don’t need to spend a single penny on it?” “I will take up this matter in the House. Already the corporation has wasted Rs 150 crore on renovation, construction and maintenance of the same toilets. Now another back-door entry has been found which is through the smart city despite clear directions from Administrator to get the work done through PPP mode to save government funds,” Kainth said. A businessman, who deals in sanitary ware and hardware, said that the best toilet can be renovated for Rs 3 lakh. It was just this month that tenders for operation and maintenance of some toilets worth Rs 2.51 crore were floated by the corporation.
