DNA: Mumbai: Friday,
April 18, 2014.
The Bombay
High Court on Wednesday expressed shock and disbelief after learning that the
state government was allowing the Pandharpur Municipal Council to clean excreta
of Warkaris (pilgrims) by employing humans.
A division
bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Amjad Sayyed said, "This shocks the
consciousness of the court. It is a violation of fundamental rights of the
humans who are employed for the work. Can you justify this practise?"
The court
then ordered the state to release Rs5 crore by May 7 to the council for
building toilets on a war-footing to cater to pilgrims likely to visit during
the Wari starting on July 9. Thousands of Warkaris visit Pandharpur to pay
obeisance at the Vitthal temple.
This proposal
was forwarded by the council in 2009. The court also noted that poll codes
should not stop the government from taking decision on the proposal. The court
also directed the petitioners, Campaign against Manual Scavenging in
Maharashtra, to include the temple trust and groups of Warkaris as parties in
the public interest litigation because it felt that since the problem was
created by human beings, their assistance would be required.
According to
information obtained under RTI Act, Pandharpur has nearly 900 public toilets
and the council provides 800 temporary toilets for pilgrims. However, various
surveys have shown that the there is a shortage of 13,000 public toilets in the
temple town to cater to the influx of Warkaris. As a result scores of people
are forced to defecate in the open, prompting the council to engage human to
clean the waste.
In 2009, the
council had submitted a proposal to the state for releasing Rs21 crore to build
toilets. However, the proposal remained pending. The court has now posted the
hearing of the PIL on May 8, and directed the state to file a compliance
report.