Mumbai: The objective of boosting cleanliness and hygiene in Mumbai through the construction of public toilets by the municipal body is mired in corruption and misappropriation of funds, states an internal study by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

It points out the extensive irregularities in repairs of community toilet blocks, particularly in slums. The 11-page report by Arun Bhoir, Deputy Chief Engineer, Storm Water Maintenance (SWM) of the Slum Sanitation Project, states that the repairs were carried out at a phenomenal rate of Rs300,000 to Rs1 million (Dh17,303 to Rs57,676) per toilet seat (in a community toilet) in some cases when it would have cost Rs178,000 to construct a new one.

What is worse is that “all repaired toilets are Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) toilets without electricity and water provision”, says the report. MHADA is a state government body that has constructed shabby toilets across the city and therefore the question is why should the BMC repair MHADA toilets with its own budgetary provision.

The BMC spent Rs2.14 billion in 24 municipal wards on toilet repairs from 2013-2017, when it could have built 12,022 new toilet seats with this amount, says Bhoir. He says, “The repairs are superficial and only aesthetic in nature with only one-year defect liability period.”

Such practices have only led to “corruption and drainage of funds and ill reputation [of] Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.” It appears that there are no checks on the works carried out in the ward offices and the “check of Account Officer which is very dominant in the proposals of central agencies is completely slack and sleepy.” The report says no senior officer has raised eyebrows over inflated costs or shoddy repairs.

The report has been submitted to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has taken note of the unsanitary “toilet blocks in Mumbai in the wake of complaints by MLAs in the assembly.”

Right to Information activist Anil Galgali who had obtained the information from the SWM department of BMC says, “The quality of toilets in Mumbai has never improved and its ranking in the country for cleanliness has dropped from 10 to 29 six months ago mainly due to feedback from the citizens who have expressed their unhappiness with the BMC’s job of keeping the city clean.”

He has also written to Fadnavis to order an inquiry into all works in ward offices and appoint a Toilet Regulatory Authority in the BMC for repairs and construction of 10,000 toilets. “This can prove the nexus between engineers and contractors, account and ward officers indicating there could be a massive Rs50-billion scam if investigated,” says Galgali.