Latest news with #ThiruvananthapuramMunicipalCorporation
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Business Standard
11 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Toilets at petrol pump cannot be used as public facilities, says Kerala HC
The Kerala High Court has temporarily barred the state and local bodies from turning toilets at privately run petrol pumps into public conveniences, LiveLaw reported. Justice CS Dias issued the order while hearing a writ petition filed by the Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society and five individual retailers. The petitioners argued that officials from the state government and Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation were pressuring them to let everyone use their restrooms. Posters had even been pasted on some pumps, creating 'the impression that the toilets are public toilets', they told the court. 'Public use disrupts daily operations' According to the petition, large groups — including tourists from passing buses — now arrive expecting free access. This crowds petrol-pump premises, causes arguments and, the retailers say, raises safety risks in an area where fuel is handled. The dealers maintain the washrooms were installed only for customers who stop to refuel and need them in an emergency. Allowing unrestricted entry would 'impede and even endanger the functioning of petrol pumps', they said. 'Hence in light of the impending threat and disastrous consequences which might ensue due to usage of such toilets by general public at large; it is essential that requisite directions may be passed by this Honourable Court to restrict usage of such toilets only to customers who come for refuelling their vehicles and that too only in emergency situations,' the petitioners submitted, as quoted by LiveLaw. Court seeks Swachh Bharat guidelines Earlier, the court directed the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation to produce any guidelines issued under the Swachh Bharat Mission that could justify opening private toilets to the public. The retailers have also asked for a declaration that their toilets are private property safeguarded by Article 300A of the Constitution, and that no law allows authorities to re-designate them as public facilities under the Petroleum Act or its 2002 Rules.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Govt cannot insist toilets in petroleum retail outlets be opened for public: HC
The Kerala High Court has issued an interim order stating that the government cannot insist that toilets in private petroleum retail outlets be allowed for use by members of the public. The order came on a petition filed by the Petroleum Traders Welfare and Legal Service Society and five retailers challenging the move of the government and local bodies to convert these toilets as public toilets. They contended that private toilets they maintained at their retail outlets for emergency use by customers were often being forced to be opened for public use. The Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and many local bodies even pasted posters in some of the retail outlets, giving the impression that these were public toilets. Many members of the public and even those who arrived in tourist buses were thus seeking access to the toilets, disrupting regular functioning of the outlets and sometimes leading to altercations within the high-risk premises. Citing protection under Article 300A of the Constitution, the retailers contended that toilets they built within their premises were private property.
The Hindu
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Thiruvananthapuram to host Koottam 2025, the two-day volunteering carnival
'Koottam 2025 is a celebration where volunteering takes centre stage,' says Gautham Ravindran, CEO and co-founder of Volunteer For India (VIF), the NGO organising the festival in association with the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation. The fete is set to take place on April 26 and 27 at the Tagore Theatre in Thiruvananthapuram and will be inaugurated by Kerala Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs minister GR Anil. Touted as the biggest volunteering festival in the country, Koottam was born out of a conversation between the co-founders of VIF, Ramalingam Natarajan and Gautham, about how 'to make volunteering more accessible and interesting for people.' 'Our discussion led to the concept of a volunteering carnival. At a regular carnival, everyone has fun with entertainment, games and so on — bringing the community together. We wanted to add the idea of volunteering to this setting, especially with people shying away from volunteering without understanding its true meaning and making it too serious. We want to make it fun,' says Gautham. VIF, he adds, is an organisation aimed to bring social change through structured volunteering programmes. The venue is divided into two sections — while one is focused on volunteering, consisting of workshops, stalls by NGOs, and so on, the other will have elements of a carnival with a pop-up market, game and activity zone and Kutti Koottam, a designated space for children, where storytelling sessions, improv, origami workshop, open mics and so on will take place. The festival will also have a volunteering station, where people can engage in 20 to 30 minutes of volunteering activities to get a hands-on experience of volunteering. 'These activities can be as easy as upcycling a T-shirt into a cloth bag or making a seed ball you can take home,' Gautham adds. 'This time around 34 NGOs have booked the stalls to introduce their work through engaging activities. We will also have panel discussions around politics, content creation and its impact on society,' says Gautham. There will also be workshops related to sustainability. The carnival has two fundraising concerts by the Sufi band, Mehfil-e-Sama and Jassie Gift on April 26 and 27 respectively. These are the only ticketed events at the carnival and the money will support a project called Gift a Story run by VIF, focused on building libraries for the underprivileged. This is the second edition of the carnival. Last year, it was organised at the Loyola School, Sreekariyam, in association with around 16 NGOs and participation from around 2000 people. 'The idea is to slowly grow this into a larger festival where people from different walks of life come together and celebrate. However, in the long run, we want to have smaller events throughout the year,' says Gautham. He adds that the Koottam community has been active in the past few months with initiatives such as beach clean-ups and food distribution drives with around 400 volunteers involved in the activities. Register via for free passes. Tickets for the concerts are available on
