Call meeting of stakeholders on wayside amenities along NH: HP High Court

Shimla, March 28

The HP High Court has requested the Advocate General of Himachal to convene a meeting of all stakeholders and sort out the issue regarding the construction of wayside amenities on the national highway, for which the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has already identified 52 sites.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja passed the order on a PIL highlighting the issue with regard to the lack of wayside amenities, particularly for women.

While passing the order, the court observed that “this issue is extremely important as it revolves around the rights of citizens to have public toilets in a clean and hygienic condition.”

The court stated that “the right to live with dignity conferred by Article 21 of the Constitution could not be meaningful if facilities of clean toilets are not provided to public, particularly women.”

Expending the scope of the PIL, the court directed the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, which has been assigned the work of maintaining toilets in the municipal area of Shimla, to display checklists in all toilets in the printed form, clearly setting out in the column of time (hourly) for the cleaning of urinals and toilets.

The court also directed Sulabh International to ensure that an adequate number of notices displaying “free use of toilets and urinal facilities at public conveniences” should be in “Hindi”. It was brought to the notice of the court that except marking attendance in registers, there was no foolproof mechanism available with the corporation to ensure the attendance of safai karamcharis.