Power of Chief Officer to require owner to provide water closet or privy accommodation.

(1) Where any premises are, in the opinion of the Chief Officer, without adequate and suitable water-closet or privy accommodation in accordance with the bye-laws made by the municipality in that behalf, the Chief Officer, may, by written notice, require the owner of such premises to provide such water-closet or privy accommodation in accordance with the bye-laws made by the municipality in that behalf, within such time as may be specified in such notice and if the owner fails to comply with such requirement, within the time so specified or within such time as may, on the application of the owner, be extended by the Chief Officer for any reasonable cause it shall be lawful for the Chief Officer to make such provision from the municipal fund. The expenses incurred by the Chief Officer in making such provision shall, on demand by the Chief Officer, be payable by the owner and if not paid by him on demand, such expenses shall be recoverable by the Chief Officer in the manner provided by Chapter IX of this Act.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where the owner of any premises fails to comply with such requirement within the period specified under sub-section (1), the Chief Officer may, in a case where the owner is not himself the occupier of such premises, permit the occupier of such premises to make provision for such water-closet or privy accommodation at the cost of the owner, if the occupier is willing to do so, instead of the Chief Officer himself making such provision. Any such occupier who makes such provision shall after obtaining the necessary certificate from the Chief Officer about such provision having been made by him the amount of expenses incurred by him in making such provision and the reasonableness of such expenses, be entitled to deduct, such amount of expenses as is certified by the Chief Officer to be reasonable, from the rent or any other sum payable by him to the owner or to recover such amount from the owner in any other lawful manner.

(3) For the purpose of making the provision specified in sub-section (1), the Chief Officer shall have power to do all acts necessary for the purpose and the municipality shall not be liable to pay any compensation to the owner of the premises for any reasonable damage done to the premises in making such provision.

(4) Where any water-closet or privy accommodation is provided or set up by the Chief Officer under sub-section (1) and the expenses incurred by the Chief Officer in doing so are paid, or recovered from, the owner in full, such water-closet or privy accommodation shall belong to the owner of the premises and the owner shall be responsible for the expenses of maintaining it in good repairs and efficient condition.

(5) The provision as aforesaid made under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall not be deemed to be a permanent structure for the purpose of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Bombay Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947.

Explanation. — For the purpose of this section "water closet" means a closet used as a privy in which discharges are pushed in or carried off by water, and includes an acqua privy, gas plant, latrine attached with gas plant, a closet of type known as P.R. A.I. (Planning Research Action Institute) type, septic tank type, hand flush type, bore hole type, clap trap type or any other type which the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.