Pune, 4th August 2026: Instead of repairing existing public toilets, corporators are increasingly proposing to demolish them and construct new facilities. The Pune Municipal Corporation's Women and Child Welfare Committee is currently examining 146 public toilet proposals, of which 91 are for new toilets while 55 seek permission to demolish existing structures and rebuild them.
In several cases, the existing toilets have reportedly already been demolished even before formal approval was granted, with proposals submitted later for retrospective permission.
Public toilets across Pune continue to suffer from poor maintenance despite the civic body spending crores of rupees every year on their upkeep. Many facilities remain unhygienic, emit foul odours and lack basic amenities such as proper lighting, functional taps and undamaged wash basins.
Although lakhs of rupees are spent on civil and electrical repairs every year, the overall condition of many public toilets has shown little improvement, raising concerns over the effectiveness of maintenance works.
The highest number of demolition proposals has come from the Kondhwa-Undri Regional Office (24), followed by Warje-Karvenagar (18) and Dhankawadi-Katraj (15). Similar proposals have also been submitted by the Dhole Patil Road, Shivajinagar-Ghole Road, Sinhagad Road and Bibwewadi regional offices.
Women and Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Alpana Varpe said that although several demolition proposals have been received, only one has been approved so far.
She said every proposal will be examined only after receiving the administration's technical opinion. The committee will also conduct site inspections before granting approval, and no proposal found to be unjustified will be cleared. Information regarding proposed aspirational public toilets will also be reviewed before taking a final decision.
Meanwhile, a recently constructed public toilet near Mhatre Bridge has come under scrutiny after developing roof leakage within its first year of operation.
The 360-square-foot facility was built at a cost of around ₹26.5 lakh, translating to nearly ₹7,300 per square foot. Despite the high construction cost, rainwater has started leaking into the caretaker's room on the first floor.
Around six months after the original construction, an additional ₹10 lakh was reportedly spent to build the caretaker's accommodation above the toilet.
Sajag Nagrik Manch President Vivek Velankar has written to Pune Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishore Ram, demanding a detailed inquiry into the project.
He has sought confiscation of the contractor's security deposit, blacklisting of the contractor and action against officials allegedly responsible for inflating the project estimate, arguing that such costly public infrastructure should not develop structural defects within such a short period.
