Allahabad, May 6 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has directed the UPSRTC Managing Director to examine the issue regarding construction of public toilets on the Cantt Roadways premises in Varanasi under the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' at his level and to file his personal affidavit in the matter.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Dinesh Pathak passed order on a petition filed by M/S Ajay Pratap and another.

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The petitioner was granted a contract by Nagar Nigam, Varanasi for construction of public toilets on Built Own Transfer (BOT) basis vide an agreement dated November 21, 2016 with the object of providing proper sanitation facility to the citizens and visitors in Varanasi.

The public toilets were to be constructed at different locations according to the list attached with the agreement. The petitioner had to build, operate and maintain the same for a period of 30 years.

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The assets would stand transferred to the first party i.e. Nagar Nigam, Varanasi. The Additional Municipal Commissioner, Nagar Nigam, Varanasi vide letter dated December 27, 2016 sought permission from the Regional Manager, Roadways, Varanasi for construction of toilets by the petitioner firm under the above agreement at the bus stand.

The Regional Manager, Roadways, Varanasi by letter dated December 31, 2016 communicated approval of the site by the Regional Committee subject to condition that construction will be raised according to approved scale map and free facility of urinal will be provided by the petitioner.

The case of the petitioner was that pursuant to the above arrangement, it started construction of toilets at a site made available by the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) Regional Manager and 90 per cent of the construction work is complete.

On May 31, 2017, the construction work was stopped abruptly on the oral direction of Regional Manager,UPSRTC, Varanasi.

When it was brought to the knowledge of Varanasi Nagar Nigam, the Municipal Commissioner by letter dated June 23, 2017 requested the UPSRTC MD to accord approval to the scheme.

In the letter, he specifically mentioned that the toilets were being constructed under the flagship scheme 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'. He also pointed out that 90 per cent of the construction work is already complete.

It was followed by another letter of Nagar Nigam Varanasi dated October 4, 2017 addressed to Regional Manager, UPSRTC pointing out that Rs 20 lakh have already been invested by the petitioner and 90 per cent of the work is complete and consequently, there is no justification in demolishing the toilets, as such an action would be against public interest and a set back to national scheme.

The petitioner has filed the instant writ petition praying for a mandamus directing the respondents to permit it to complete the construction of the toilets or in the alternative, direct them compensate the petitioner in a sum of Rs 20 lakh plus interest.

After hearing counsel for petitioner Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Bipin Bihari Pandey for Nagar Nigam and Vivek Saran for UPSRTC, the court directed the MD to file his personal affidavit and fixed May 25 next for further hearing.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)