₹10 user fee sparks public criticism amid toilet shortage
₹10 toilet charge
Puri Municipal Corporation will start to collect Rs 10 from each person who uses any public toilet.
At first, the government had made all public toilets free due to the pandemic of COVID-19.
But now, some new rules issued by the government have made public toilets costly.
Now, all people have to pay Rs 10 for every toilet use.
Thus, the people have criticized the move very strongly.
Puri has been declared a Municipal Corporation recently.
So, the people expected better civic amenities.
But now, they have to pay for public toilets.
Also, there is a lack of public toilets in Puri.
Mostly, poor and daily wage earners use them.
Furthermore, the critics claim that the government spends a lot on toilet constructions.
They state that the introduction of the new fees will increase the burden on citizens.
According to PMC, the monthly cost of maintaining public toilets is close to ₹30 lakh.
They say that the ₹10 charge will lower the financial burden.
The new rule will be implemented following the Rath Yatra event.
At present, there are not enough toilet facilities in Puri.
Previously, there were 21 public toilets in the city.
But only nine toilets were non-functional.
The authorities have fixed the problems prior to Rath Yatra.
Also, there are five new toilet complexes under construction.
The project is estimated at ₹3.60 crore.
They will accommodate 55 people at once.
The plan is to open the toilet complexes prior to Rath Yatra.
Many citizens have doubts about the new user charges.
They note that the government encourages toilet usage through Swachh Bharat Mission.
That is why they question whether it makes sense to charge ₹10.
