The BMC’s solid waste management (SWM) department plans to construct 2,500 slum toilets by March 2017. Meanwhile, it has dropped its previous survey of taking stock of the number of block toilets in Mumbai’s chawls. However, officials of the SWM department confirmed that the BMC would not be able to construct household toilets in slums, contrary to the strictures of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Instead, it will continue with its original plan of constructing community toilets in slum or semi-slum areas.
Meanwhile, according to another survey conducted by all the wards to determine open defecation spots in slums areas, the BMC has decided to build a total of 2,500 toilet seats on priority basis. The civic body has selected a total of 118 spots around slums in the city, where open defecation is largely practiced. This project is part of a larger project to construct 10,000 toilets by the end of next year.
Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said, “We are yet to take an update on the number of toilets needed in these spots, or if 118 spots have decreased. However, we would like to completely end open defecation by March 2017. Out of the total target of giving the city 10,000 new toilet seats, contractors have been asked to focus on construction of 2,500 toilets seats in the open defecation spots.”
Meanwhile, the civic body’s target to provide chawls with household toilets has been put on the back burner. It was in the process of conducting a survey to determine how many block toilets are there in chawls, so that additional household toilets could be built.
The BMC claims that officials realised during the survey that there are enough block toilets and new ones need not be constructed.
As per The Asian Age’s report dated June 27, the BMC had planned to conduct a survey of block toilets in chawls and include the number in the list of household toilets, in order to meet the mandate of number of household toilets per city under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
