Vijender Gupta, leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, on Friday, expressed serious concern over the state of the Delhi government’s public utility centers operated by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB).
Gupta was speaking after a surprise inspection of a public utility centre at a slum in Krishna Nagar Assembly constituency in East Delhi. He claimed that he encountered appalling conditions there.
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Speaking to reporters, he lamented that the toilets in the center were so foul-smelling and unclean that it was impossible to stand there for even two minutes without a mask. The BJP leader asked how impoverished residents could be expected to use such facilities. These centers, intended to serve residents in slum areas, have deteriorated due to filth and neglect, Gupta added.
He noted that the taps were dry, sewers clogged, and there were no doors in the women’s toilets, while the wash basins were broken and the facility to wash hands was also missing.
According to Gupta, the center was so unfit for use by the residents that they stopped using it. He alleged that conditions in other DUSIB-managed centers across Delhi slums were also in a similar dismal state.
Gupta said while Arvind Kejriwal leads a life of luxury on the taxpayers’ money; neither the AAP chief nor his ministers or officials seem to care about the appalling state of public toilets for the poor.
The BJP leader said the toilets are too filthy to be used, and the women find it unsafe to visit them at night. He alleged that the sewer system, which drains into a septic tank, is unmaintained, leading to overflow and foul odors across the premises, with insects infesting the area.
He noted that the unsanitary environment poses a serious health risk to nearby residents.
Gupta also hit out at the AAP for failing to provide slums with basic amenities, while their leader Kejriwal had promised a water tap in every slum household, yet none has been installed.
In contrast, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat campaign encouraged people to build toilets in their homes to achieve an open-defecation-free India, while he alleged that the AAP government is unable to provide basic facilities in the toilets it has constructed, leaving many women in slum areas with no choice but to defecate in the open.
