Chennai: In a peculiar case, a resident of a town panchayat in Tamil Nadu would be contributing Rs one lakh for construction of a public toilet after he won a three-year legal battle in the Madras High Court to get it relocated from a site infront of his house.
Disposing of the petition by P Kalimuthu of Zamin Uthukuli town panchayat in Coimbatore District, Justice N Paul Vasanthkumar directed the panchayat Executive Officer to construct the toilet in the land identified by an Advocate Commissioner appointed by the court.
He directed the petitioner to send a Demand Draft for Rs one lakh to the Executive Officer within four weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of the order.
The court had in 2010 ordered a status quo while admitting the petition opposing the panchayat's decision to locate the toilet in front of the petitioner's house.
The petitioner had submitted that the toilet was sought to be constructed opposite his house in an act of vendetta by the owners of a nearby coir unit, which had earlier been closed by pollution authorities after complaints from the residents.
Assuming that he was the one who had lodged the complaint against the unit, the owners allegedly used their influence with the panchayat authorities to sanction the public toilet in front of his house.
Stating that there was vacant land about 200 metres from his house and it can be used for construction of the toilet, he had submitted that in the interest of the village people, he was ready to pay Rs one lakh for construction of toilet.
The Advocate Commissioner, who visited the place, filed a report stating that the toilet already constructed was incomplete and wide open. He suggested two suitable alternative sites at a distance of 150 meters and 200 meters from the existing toilet.
