The Maharashtra will allot space for 100 petrol pumps along the state highways with public facilities such as toilets, ATMs and restaurants. The state will also identify 300 additional petrol pump locations where these facilities can be introduced. The government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with public sector oil companies to build such facilities.
“We are planning toilet facilities every 500 metres on state highways. With this parameter in mind, we need to set up 400 toilets,” said public works department minister, Chandrakant Patil.
“The lessee will have to comply with the construction conditions such as the specified design and size for the toilets. The facility will be free of charge and large enough to cater to busloads of passengers at a time. This has been chalked out to address the problem of the lack of toilets, which especially inconvenience women passengers,” he added.
The liability of maintaining these facilities will lie with the operator of the petrol pump. “The government expects revenue from leasing out these plots,” Patil said.
