Mumbai rolls out ‘aspirational’ toilets at key city hotspots

To endow public toilets with features on a par with those in office complexes and shopping malls the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has built seven lsquoaspirationalrsquo toilets at places that are visited by tourists and devotees in the island city The civic body plans to build 67 such facilities in the suburbs over the next yearThe menrsquos section which is partially monitored by a CCTV cameraIn South Mumbai these toilets are located at highfootfall areas that are important from a tourism heritage or religious perspective with key locations chosen including the historic Banganga Tank area near the 900yearold Walkeshwar Temple Fashion Street a popular shopping destination and Vidhan Bhavan and Lionrsquos Gate in Colaba Visitors must pay Rs 5 to use these facilities but there is no additional cost for using their amenities such as sanitary pad vending machinesThe womenrsquos section which includes a sanitary napkin vending machine and a space for feeding babies PICASHISH RAJEKiran Dighavkar deputy municipal commissioner in charge of the solid waste management department said ldquoLocations in South Mumbai were selected in the first phase based on space Colaba has daytime and nighttime footfall of around 40 lakh and two lakh respectively We have conducted a survey and shortlisted 67 locations in the suburbs where such toilets will be constructedrdquoThe aspirational toilet in the Banganga Tank area in the Walkeshwar Temple complex in South Mumbai PICsBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTTeen sawaal Kiran Dighavkar deputy municipal commissionerWhat are aspirational toiletsThey are basically payanduse toilets constructed after demolishing existing payanduse ones There are a total of 787 such payanduse toilets in Mumbai of which we have converted seven in the island city into aspirational toilets Such highend toilets were earlier called VIP or special toilets The latest term was coined under SBM 20 as a means to show how we should aspire to make all community toiletsWhat were the criteria for setting up these facilitiesThere is no limit on how many such toilets can be constructed in Mumbai We received aid of Rs 70 crore for their construction However since space is a challenge BMC started with South Mumbai as this area also sees a high footfall daily After a survey we selected 67 suburban spots where such toilets will be constructedWhat challenges has the BMC facedSpace is a huge challenge when constructing toilets in Mumbai We have also had to deal with the overall idea among citizens and the prospective target audience about the need to use any available space for a toilet mdash as the belief is that ldquoif we have space we can make something elserdquo We have had to rely on public footpaths to host our aspirational toilets so far Another challenge is longterm viability from the maintenance point of view but these toilets are a requirement for any cityFeatures of Mumbairsquos aspirational toiletsgtgt Toilet for disabled with European toilet seats for male female and Transgender personsgtgt Changing room baby feeding facility for women as per the space availablegtgt Hand dryers sanitary napkin vending and burning machinesgtgt CCTV cameras in community spacesgtgt Fire extinguishersgtgt UV digital printing thatrsquos visible in darkgtgt Maintenance roomgtgt Solar panelsgtgt Overhead water tanksgtgt Electric ductgtgt Fire ductIsland city locationsLion GateToilet seats 17Bombay High CourtToilet seats 25Vidhan BhavanToilet seats 20BangangaToilet seats 16Fashion Street and nearby Khau Galli Toilet seats16 and 14 respectivelyMahim BeachToilet seats 14