Mumbai: Tender for toilets withheld as minister changes stance

The BMC had decided to construct 1,200 community toilets having 14,000 toilet seats in total. Representation Pic

Mumbai Guardian Minister and BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha's flip-flop push for pre-cast toilets to be used in the city's community toilets has led to withholding of a BMC tender worth '488 crore. In July Lodha demanded withholding of the tender to meet some conditions, but he changed his stance in August, demanding not to hold the full tender and use pre-cast toilets only wherever possible.

Lodha had written to civic administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal on July 5, following which the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to withhold the tender to construct 1,200 community toilets having 14,000 toilet seats in total. Lodha's letter stated that the BMC should consider pre-fabricated community toilets instead of traditional ones (a copy of the letter is with mid-day).

He demanded that of the 1200 community toilets planned for construction, at least 500 should be pre-fabricated as traditional toilet blocks cost more. Also, the cost of maintenance is higher and so the BMC decided to withhold the tender despite the process being in the last stage. The civic body had also decided to procure pre-cast toilets through Corporate Social Responsibility programmes and had invited expressions of interest for the initiative.

However, after the tender was withheld, Lodha wrote to Chahal again on August 2, stating that the ongoing tender process shouldn't be stopped. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his vision, has always emphasised having toilets in each house. Our opinion was that community toilets should be of good construction quality. But holding the tender process is not the right thing. You should complete the tender process and additional toilets should be constructed through corporate social responsibility," the letter read. When asked about the flip-flop process, Lodha responded by sending this correspondent the same letters he had sent to the BMC.

Rs 488 cr
Value of the tender withheld in July