19 July,2016 08:53 AM IST | | Faisal Tandel
While the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had proposed to install 30 e-toilets in 2015, only nine have seen the light of day
As part of its plans to create a smart city, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had decided last year to install 30 e-toilets on highways. The aim was to offer a viable option to women, children and motorists travelling on the mostly deserted roads. But so far, only nine e-toilets have been installed in the satellite city.
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An e-toilet near Pawane Flyover in Navi Mumbai. Pic/Sneha Kharabe
An NMMC official told mid-day, "The authorities installed 9 e-toilets in July last year - 8 on Thane-Belapur Road and one at Uran. Each e-toilet cost us almost Rs 10 lakh and to install them, we spent around Rs 9 lakh. There were plans to utilise the MLA fund of Manda Mhatre from Belapur constituency and CSR support from corporate houses to install more e-toilets. But these didn't take off due to bureaucratic lethargy."
Expert speak
Anvar Sadath, CEO of Eram Scientific Solutions, which has installed over 1,500 e-toilets in 19 states, said, "Bangalore and Chennai have successfully adopted e-toilets to address the issue of sanitation. I wish authorities in Mumbai would also replicate the model because these toilets are self-flushing, self-cleaning, and easy to use. Given the dismal state of public toilets, especially during monsoon, e-toilets could prove to be a lot more hygienic. Since it's unmanned, women can use the facilities at any time of the day. This brings us to she-toilets which also have sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators to dispose them."
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According to NMMC records, 45 people use the e-toilet at Uran every day, while 1,296 people used it from July 2015 to June 30 this year. Similarly, 35 people use the e-toilet on Thane-Belapur Road daily and 1,060 annually, while it's 32 people daily and 980 annually at the CBD Belapur Sector 15 facility.
When mid-day visited the e-toilets, we found them to be poorly maintained. An NMMC official said, "We are in the process of tendering maintenance work to a private NGO. We will also issue tenders for installation of more e-toilets."
