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Facility at Marine Drive cost Rs. 90 lakh
Mumbai’s first Rs. 90 lakh clean-technology toilet was thrown open to the public at Nariman Point along Marine Drive on Tuesday. The environment-friendly toilet block, an initiative of the Brihanamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),and Nariman Point Churchgate Citizens’ Association (NPCCA), will serve the thousands thronging the 3.7 km-long promenade. It has been executed by the JSW group and Samatech, a social development foundation that works towards introducing sustainable and clean sanitation technology. The concept of the eco-friendly toilet here came into making in January and the work began in April.
Akshat Gupta, co-founder of Samatech said, “The root of the idea is to provide a toilet that has an environment-friendly sewage disposal system and limited use of natural resources.” The facility claims to be ‘100-year proof’ and is built entirely with low maintenance weathering steel, keeping in mind the location, to provide immunity against the saline air as well as the waves. Vacuum technology has been used in the facility so as to reduce water consumption by 90% by using 0.8 liters instead of seven to eight liters per flush as in a traditional toilet. The toilet block which comprises of two water closet units in the womens section and 3 urinals for men, has an integrated storage tank underneath with a capacity of 8,000 uses from where the MCGM will collect the sewage weekly and dispose it off at their sewage treatment plant. “None of the toilets along the coast are connected to the sewer line which is almost equivalent to open defecation so we wanted to provide an eco-friendly sanitation solution,” Mr. Gupta said. One of the water closets and urinals have been made disabled-friendly. The roof of the toilet is equipped with solar panels to make it a self-sustainable public project. “There are capsule shaped openings to provide cross ventilation. The free-of-cost facility is S-shaped with separate entrances for male and female. The design is inspired by Art deco style and will serve as a model of sustainable environment-friendly technology,” the architect of the project, Kapil Gupta, said. Defending the cost of the facility, which is approximately Rs. 80-90 lakh, Mr. Gupta said, “We want to change the narrative of it from being called a Rs. 1 crore toilet to a toilet for one crore people.” Aaditya Thackeray, president of Yuva Sena, who inaugurated the facility on Monday, said this was a great initiative. “Users now have a responsibility to ensure proper usage. I look forward to many more toilets being built across Mumbai.” Recalling the time he inaugurated a women’s toilet block in Mumbai Central, Mr. Thackeray said, “I had asked Tarini (Jindal-Handa of JSW) as to why there was such injustice for men. There should be another one for both.” Tarini Jindal-Handa of JSW Group said that the location being Marine Drive made it close to every Mumbaikar’s heart. “The toilet is small but a significant addition to the face of the promenade,” she said. Member of Parliament representing Mumbai south constituency, Arvind Sawant said, “This facility is comparable to a five-star (hotel), people must ensure to keep it clean and use it responsibly.”
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/eco-friendly-toilet-block-for-mumbai/article25106944.ece
