Pune: Petrol pump owners across Maharashtra can breathe a sigh of relief, after the Mumbai HC passed orders that the general public would not be allowed to use the toilet facility of the petrol pump. Only consumers who are filling petrol, diesel or CNG at petrol pumps would be allowed to use the toilet facility.
The Division Bench of the HC queried the PMC as to who gave them such sweeping powers to convert private toilets into public toilets, under the garb of the Swachh Bharat, Government Of India programme. The PMC sought to blatantly misuse the Government Of India Clean India initiative in this manner, saddling the unsuspecting petrol pump owners with what is their own responsibility: to provide citizens with public sanitation.
AIPDA spokesperson Ali Daruwalla said, “The relief for the aggrieved petrol pump owners has come after various associations across Maharashtra and All India Petrol Dealers Association (AIPDA) at Delhi approached the courts, objecting to this unfair, poorly thought out stand of the municipal corporation, in declaring all petrol pump toilets general public toilets. Alongside Maharashtra, the petrol pump association has successfully secured favourable orders and has thus brought an end to this practice at petrol pumps.”
He added, “Petrol pump owners strongly resisted this unfair and ill-thought out municipal corporation idea, in the interests of safety and hygiene, as would undoubtedly have been seriously compromised at petrol pumps. Women can anytime use the toilets of the petrol pumps, even if they are not consumers of the petrol pump.”
