The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) to inspect the condition of public toilets in Bengaluru. This direction, according to a report in Bar and Bench, came after the petitioner told the High Court that some public toilets are also being used as kitchens. According to the Bar and Bench report, the order was passed by a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum. The order stated that the member secretary of KSLSA should conduct a survey of public toilets to find out whether water is available and whether hygiene at the premises are maintained. 

Further, the order requested the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to communicate the order to the Member Secretary of the KSLSA. The court was hearing a petition filed by NGO Letzkit Foundation, which raised concerns about the BBMP not creating adequate public toilets in Bengaluru. The petitioner’s counsel, Ramesh Puthige, had informed the court that the few existing public toilets were in bad shape. He further informed the court with photographic evidence that the toilets were being used as kitchens.

According to a report in The Hindu, the BBMP had conducted a survey earlier on the number and the status of toilets in July, and presented it to the court. The survey was conducted by a private institute called All India Institute of Local Self Government, which compared the status of public toilets with some of the other major cities in India. According to the report, the High Court was not satisfied with the survey. The High Court noted that there were fewer public toilets compared to other cities and it was revealed to the High Court that the BBMP didn’t have centralised data about public toilets.