Mumbai: BMC to set up 10,000 community toilets

According to census slum population figures, there is currently one community toilet seat per 42 men and 34 women. File pic

The BMC is, once again, planning to set up community toilets, the shortage of which due to lack of space has been a long-standing problem. The solid waste management department of the civic body is in the process of floating a tender to construct 10,000 community toilet seats in slums. An earlier plan - which involved installing more than 22,000 toilets - was scrapped mid-way as the corporation didn't finalise locations to construct 6,500 toilet seats.

The latest endeavour is referred to as lot 12 by officials and the BMC wasn't as successful as it expected with the earlier lots. As part of the previous lot, the corporation ordered the construction of 22,774 toilets across the city in January 2019. The aim was to set up 16,703 toilets on the site of 14,173 extant washrooms and an additional 6,071 toilets at new locations. But after three years, the BMC scrapped the plan. Though 12,809 toilets had been built and 3,352 were under construction, the civic body realised that the construction of 6,613 toilet seats hadn't started due to lack of space.

A solid waste management department official said the tender for lot 12 may be floated in February 2023. "The locations have been identified at the ward level. So there are no space issues or need to relocate structures," the official said.

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Another official said, "Though residents have demanded more toilet facilities in their areas, no one is ready to build them near their houses. So there is always a space crunch when it comes to building new toilets. The BMC has a scheme for providing alternative homes to acquire land under its project-affected people policy, but locals are not ready to move to other locations. Now we are thinking of offering monetary compensation."

According to census slum population figures, there is currently one community toilet seat per 42 men and 34 women, while the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) prescribes one toilet seat for 35 men and 25 women. Also, there is one public toilet seat per 752 men and 1,820 women while the SBM prescribes one toilet for 100 to 400 and 100 to 200 for men and women respectively.