430-crore privatisation ‘LOO’T: Who’s benefiting?

Chennai: In just eight months, the maintenance cost of a toilet seat rose 115 times from 3.18 per seat per day in Jan 2022 to 363.9 per seat per day in Sept 2022. This, when commercial establishments such as Slam Fitness, Naturalz, Vummudi Bangaru Jewellers, and Tony and Guy spend not more than 100 to maintain each toilet seat per day.
Despite this mega budget, toilet seats and toilet complexes remain stinky and unusable. Besides, Greater Chennai Corporation has been busy issuing showcause notices but is fighting shy of terminating or punishing the continuously defaulting contractor.
RTI responses accessed by TOI show the first showcause notice, by GCC superintending engineer (special projects) on Oct 27, 2023, said the contractor did not expedite work, showed "least interest" in the project, had poor implementation, did not meet milestones of constructing 21 toilets, and toilets remained with "broken tiles" and "sanitary fittings." A notice on Dec 22, 2023, said the contractor used "unapproved" and "sub-standard construction material," and there was a lack of cleaning staff. The Teyampet zonal officer on Jan 2, 2024, wrote that the contractor did not have the necessary cleaning equipment and accessories on the Marina and did not correct the issues despite repeated violations.
On Feb 8, 2024, the GCC commissioner issued a pre-termination notice, saying work execution was substandard, the contractor failed in key performance indicators, no improvements were made despite notices, and the contractor did not participate in any GCC-chaired meetings.
An RTI response in Jan 2025 showed the contractor only set up 37 CCTV cameras against the 372 required. Without CCTVs, it is impossible to monitor the presence of staff from a centralised control room, which the contractor claims to have set up. GCC, which has been issuing paper threats to the contractor without punishing it for default in fulfilling tender conditions, has already released 24 crore to the contractor.
Industry members say 364 per seat per day as maintenance cost is huge. "The maintenance cost of a seat would be about 100 a day even if we maintain highest standards. We allow one worker earning 13,000 salary to clean five toilet seats a day. It costs about 86 per toilet seat for labour and just about 20 more for chemicals. For e-toilets, it costs 150. Water doesn't cost as it is usually available in the tanks," said Sharshad Baniyandi, founder-director of Penda Private Limited which manages housekeeping at Chepauk Stadium for IPL matches and counts Slam Fitness, Naturalz, Vummudi Bangaru Jewellers, and Tony and Guy among its clients.
RSB Infra was supposed to carry out new constructions in about 662 toilet seats in the first year at 82 crore, including GST. The remaining project cost is for maintenance for the eight-year period. However, the contractor didn't meet any of the key performance indicators such as installing CCTV cameras, cleanliness, construction, manpower, and cleaning accessories. GCC took no action.
A visit by TOI to toilets in Sowcarpet and Pulianthope (see photos) found them a shambles and locked. Advocate N Rukmangathan, who has filed cases against GCC on poor toilet upkeep, said, "This is a clear case for a vigilance probe and a suo motu public interest litigation proceedings by high court. Officials have documented and confirmed the poor quality work through notices. Still, they did not take action. This only indicates a nexus among officials, contractors, and politicians."
Even after the spectacular failure of its multi-hundred crore project, GCC has decided to expand it to the entire city at 1,167 crore. Councillors including standing committee chairman (accounts) K Dhanasekaran flagged the upcoming privatization move, citing the corporation's inaction in the two zones.
While RSB Infra representative Michael was unavailable for comment, mayor R Priya told TOI the contractor was performing well. "There seems to be a hike in cost, but the contractor is doing well. If there are any irregularities, we will look into it."