Public Toilet Crisis in Vidarbha: 5 Years of Promises and Decay

thenewsdirt
Aug 13
7 min read

Vidarbha has witnessed a complex narrative of sanitation infrastructure development between 2020 and 2025, marked by significant achievements in toilet construction alongside persistent maintenance failures.

Vidarbha faces mounting challenges in sustaining the cleanliness and functionality of public toilets despite substantial government investment and policy interventions.

The region's journey from achieving Open Defecation Free status in multiple districts to confronting widespread maintenance breakdowns reflects broader systemic issues affecting public sanitation infrastructure across rural and urban centres.

Infrastructure Breakdown and Maintenance Failures

The maintenance crisis became particularly evident in Nagpur, where the Municipal Corporation operates 68 public toilets serving a population of 24 lakh residents.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation candidly admitted during court proceedings that poor maintenance stems from both inadequate contractor performance and rampant vandalism, including theft and deliberate destruction of toilet seats by users.

The civic body revealed spending nearly Rs 1 crore annually on repairs due to vandalism, forcing direct intervention when contractors prove unable to address the extent of damage.

Public toilet conditions across Nagpur deteriorated significantly during this period, with facilities at key locations, including Gandhi Chowk, Sadar Bus Stop, Katol Road, and Samvidhan Square, found in deplorable states during 2024 inspections.

These sites exhibited common problems, including broken pipes, overflowing drains, leaking infrastructure, filthy interiors, and persistent foul odours, reflecting systemic maintenance failures rather than isolated incidents.

The maintenance contract system proved inadequate, with four private agencies responsible for upkeep failing to deliver satisfactory results. Zonal sanitation officers tasked with regular inspections showed limited effectiveness in ensuring contractor compliance, leading to repeated cycles of deterioration and emergency repairs.

The corporation's admission that "citizens lack civic sense, leading to repeated damage of facilities" highlighted the complex interplay between user behaviour and infrastructure sustainability.

Water scarcity emerged as a critical factor undermining toilet functionality across Vidarbha, particularly affecting rural areas that had achieved Open Defecation Free status during the previous decade.

Villages in drought-prone districts found themselves reverting to open defecation practices despite having constructed household toilets, as water reserves became too scarce to waste on flushing.

This phenomenon was documented across Marathwada and Vidarbha districts, where families receiving daily water quotas of 200 litres could not spare water for toilet flushing without exhausting their entire supply.

The smart toilet initiative launched by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation faced significant implementation challenges, with work stalled at multiple locations due to land disputes and contractor issues. Package 1 toilets at locations such as Mor Bhavan and Mankapur-Gorewada Ring Road reached 80% completion but remained non-functional, while construction at Shani Mandir was halted entirely due to Army objections over land use.

These delays rendered the Rs 22.90 crore investment in 44 smart toilets largely ineffective during the assessment period.

The deteriorating infrastructure conditions forced the Bombay High Court to intervene through Public Interest Litigation filed in March 2025. The petition highlighted the failure of authorities to ensure adequate sanitation facilities despite multiple promises under various government missions, noting that despite similar legal action in 2012, no concrete improvements had materialised.

Construction Successes and Regional Progress

Despite maintenance failures, Vidarbha demonstrated notable success in toilet construction during the earlier part of the assessment period. Yavatmal district emerged as the regional leader, completing construction of 35,167 individual family toilets during 2015-16 with Rs 12,000 subsidies per unit, ranking fifth statewide and first within Vidarbha.

The district's approach across 16 tehsils, with Babhulgaon tehsil contributing 3,545 toilets, exemplified effective implementation despite having 2,27,243 families lacking individual toilets at the project's start.

Several municipal councils achieved Open Defecation Free status during this period, with Mowad becoming the first ODF town in Vidarbha in 2015.

The town's achievement was particularly significant as it addressed toilet needs for its 8,777 residents across 2,626 houses within a 52-hectare area through a combination of individual, community, and public toilets. Municipal council president Ranjana Solanki and chief officer Archana Mendhe led the initiative, constructing 646 household toilets under three different schemes while conducting four comprehensive surveys to identify households lacking toilet facilities.

Additional towns, including Umred, Ramtek, Katol, Mahadula, and Mohp, achieved ODF status by 2016, representing significant progress in rural sanitation infrastructure.

These achievements reflected coordinated efforts between municipal councils, district administrations, and community participation in construction and awareness campaigns. Umred notably achieved both ODF and garbage-free status, implementing comprehensive waste management alongside sanitation improvements.

The Swachh Bharat Mission Phase-I delivered substantial results across rural Vidarbha, with Maharashtra achieving complete ODF status by April 2018.

The programme's success stemmed from systematic implementation through dedicated institutional structures established at state, district, and gram panchayat levels, supported by comprehensive training programmes and community mobilisation efforts.

Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission, implemented from 2020-21 to 2025-26, shifted focus toward sustaining ODF status while implementing solid and liquid waste management systems to achieve ODF Plus village designation. The programme allocated Rs 1,484 crores for 2025-26, reflecting continued government commitment to sanitation infrastructure development.

Public Response and Community Activism

Community response to deteriorating toilet conditions manifested through formal legal challenges and grassroots activism.

The Public Interest Litigation filed by advocate Sundeep Badana in 2025 represented broader public frustration with the gap between government promises and ground-level reality.

The petition specifically challenged the failure to increase public toilet numbers despite rapid population growth, noting that Nagpur's toilet infrastructure remained static while the city expanded significantly.

Public complaints documented through media reports and court proceedings revealed widespread dissatisfaction with toilet cleanliness and accessibility.

Citizens at locations such as Samvidhan Square reported being forced to use overcrowded smart toilets due to the unusable condition of regular public facilities. Residents and vendors consistently described encounters with broken pipes, unclean toilet seats, and unhygienic conditions that rendered facilities effectively unusable.

The broader Vidarbha statehood movement incorporated sanitation infrastructure failures as evidence of regional neglect by the Maharashtra government. Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti protests cited poor infrastructure, including inadequate toilet facilities, as justification for demands for separate statehood.

These protests reflected deeper frustration with development imbalances that left Vidarbha lacking basic civic amenities despite contributing significantly to state revenues.

Community resistance to using poorly maintained facilities emerged as a significant challenge, with many residents opting for open defecation rather than using unsanitary toilets.

This behaviour pattern undermined the intended public health benefits of toilet construction programmes and highlighted the critical importance of maintenance in determining infrastructure effectiveness.

Survey data from the National Family Health Survey 5 showed some positive trends, with 73.3% of Vidarbha residents using improved sanitation facilities by 2020-21.

However, these statistics masked the quality and maintenance issues that affected facility usability and user satisfaction.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation introduced technological solutions including mobile applications for toilet monitoring and community feedback systems, though their effectiveness remained limited by underlying maintenance and contractor performance issues. Plans for 37 additional public toilets represented acknowledgment of infrastructure inadequacy, but implementation faced similar challenges that had affected previous projects.

Resource Allocation and Financial Challenges

Budget allocations for sanitation infrastructure revealed significant investment commitments alongside implementation challenges. The Swachh Bharat Mission Phase-II received Rs 1,484 crores for 2025-26, representing a substantial financial commitment to rural sanitation improvement.

Individual toilet construction continued receiving Rs 12,000 subsidies per unit, while community sanitary complexes received Rs 3.00 lakh funding combining central and state resources.

Nagpur's smart toilet project represented a Rs 22.90 crore investment targeting 44 facilities across the city, with individual toilet costs reaching Rs 41 lakh for comprehensive facilities including disabled access, sensor systems, and maintenance rooms. However, implementation delays and contractor issues prevented effective utilisation of these investments.

The maintenance cost crisis became evident through Nagpur Municipal Corporation's admission of Rs 1 crore annual spending on vandalism-related repairs. This figure represented substantial unplanned expenditure that reduced resources available for the expansion and improvement of services.

Contractor payment issues further complicated maintenance delivery, with some agencies reporting delayed payments affecting their ability to provide consistent services.

District-level budget allocations showed regional variations in resource distribution. Maharashtra's annual plan allocated 27.97% of divisible fixed expenditure to Vidarbha between 2013-14 and 2020-21, exceeding the mandated 23.03% allocation. However, special project funding like Smart Cities investments concentrated resources in select urban centres while leaving smaller municipalities dependent on routine budgetary provisions.

Water infrastructure funding revealed competing priorities affecting toilet functionality. The Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project received Rs 88,574 crores estimated cost for benefiting six districts including Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola, and Buldhana. However, immediate water supply challenges continued affecting toilet usage in rural areas despite these long-term infrastructure investments.

The period from 2020 to 2025 exposed fundamental contradictions in Vidarbha's sanitation infrastructure development. While construction achievements demonstrated governmental capacity and community participation in expanding toilet access, maintenance failures revealed systemic weaknesses in sustaining these investments.

The combination of contractor inadequacies, vandalism, water scarcity, and insufficient monitoring created conditions where substantial public investments failed to deliver intended benefits.

Public response through legal challenges and community activism reflected broader frustration with the gap between policy announcements and lived experience. The ongoing crisis suggests that future sanitation infrastructure success requires equal attention to construction and maintenance, supported by robust oversight mechanisms and community engagement in facility stewardship.