Project 11 : The Public Toilet
Deaf to nature’s call
KAPISH RAICHUR hates his job: delivering mail to the plush of- fices of Mumbai’s newest business district: the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The 25-year-old courier runner’s nightmare is not his full mailbag but the occasional full bladder. Mumbai’s office district of the future – brick, glass and glazed tiles spread over an area of approximately 170 cricket grounds and home to the National Stock Exchange, multinational banks, a diamond bourse and big league international schools – does not have a single public toilet.
RAICHUR OFTEN relieves himself in a corner of a sidewalk. “There is no choice,” he said. “I am not comfortable ac- cessing the BKC office toilets neither can I walk up to Bandra station with a full bladder. It’s not like I love using the cor- ners, but there is no toilet to go to.” Anyone who does not have entry to the commercial district’s plush buildings, whether it is a taxi driver or a construc- tion worker, does the same. While the Mumbai Metropolitan Re- gion Development Authority, the guardian of Bandra-Kurla Complex, has decided to build one finally by end of 2008, many prime and crowd- ed city spots – another ex- ample is the popular Priyadarshini Park in south Mumbai – lack basic sanita- tion. And so a booming Mumbai must endure its age-old dubi- ous defining feature: it’s great stink. In a city where an average person spends more time out- side home, travelling long distances to reach the work- place, there are only 1,300 pay-and-use toilets for 14 mil- lion people: one public toilet for 10,769 desperate users. Compare this with Singa- pore’s 60,000 public toilets for its 4.5 million people: one for 75 people. Shanghai has a public toilet every 1,000 feet. The civic body has no budget or targets to building pay-and-use toilets. For the last one-year, permissions have been granted for just 10 additional toilet blocks. “We get a lot of applications for toilet construction. We are considering 60 pro- posals. But permission depends on move- ment of traffic and people in an area,” said P.S. Joshi, executive engineer, Bri- hanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). But things could improve if the idea of inviting advertisements on the outer walls of a toilet block gets cleared by the Mumbai civic body’s Improvement Com- mittee. Sulabh International, a group that builds and maintains public lavatories, has submitted a proposal for constructing 100 toilets with advertisements. “The ad revenue will be shared equally. If the proposal gets a nod, the advertise- ment model will be replicated with any non-government or- ganisation that wants to build a toilet,” said R.A. Rajeev, ad- ditional municipal commis- sioner, who hopes the ad mon- ey will help maintain toilets better. “Additional earnings are essential. But the entry fee will not increase.” And although Mumbai as- pires to be world class, the government does not even have a blueprint on toilets. “It has master plans for beautification, Mithi river cleaning, building roads and flyovers, but nothing on pub- lic toilets.
Lavatories are way down on any government agency’s priority list,” said M.R. Shah, former chief engineer with the BMC. What probably works against Mumbai is the presence of seven major land own- ers – the BMC, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMR- DA), Highway Authority, Airport Author- ity, Mumbai Port Trust, central govern- ment and state government – making it difficult to evolve an integrated ap- proach. “Public toilets end up being no one’s baby,” said a civic offi- cial, requesting anonymity. Moreover, in a city of boom- ing real estate, builder and trader lobbies view a pay-and- use toilet as an eyesore. “No one wants a public toilet outside a residential area or a commercial establishment. There are so many instances where political pressure was used to ensure that no toilet is built,” said Shah.
How is a pay-and-use toilet sanctioned? The civic body has to simply give a no-ob-jection certificate to the non-government organisation (NGO) or trust that puts forth a proposal to construct it. About 50 private agencies run pay-and-use toilets in the city. But most of these trustees have horror tales to tell. (See: Reality check from the trustees)
Besides, the MMRDA, which has a key role to play in changing the face of the city, has knocked off public toilets to make way for wider roads over the last two to three years. “Progress is needed,” conceded Palgi Katpara, chairman of the Sarv Lokseva Mandal, which runs three public toilets in the suburbs. “But MMRDA doesn’t pro- vide alternative locations to rebuild the demolished toilets.” There is considerable debate over de- sign too. “Why do we always have to think big? If there is no space, one- or two-seater toilets the size of a paan shop can be built,” said for- mer BMC chief engineer Shah. Rajan Lakule, principal of Sir JJ School of Archi- tecture, believes the city should keep it simple. “The toilet is a function box,” he said. “The only accessories should be cleanliness and neatness.” Criticising the city’s toilet as works of “clumsy and cheap workmanship”, Lakule said: “The tile joints are impor- tant since they get dirty first, not the sur- face as much. Good fixtures along with a good disposal system for sanitary waste are very important, apart from a ventila- tor or a room freshener.” He said toilets in Malaysia are made of fibre, look good and last long. He advo- cates sturdier doors for public toilets. “Rain water storage can provide for the extra water requirement. For new toilets, the technology for waste water recycle and reuse should be incorporated,” said Vaibhavi Kale-Mahakalkar, deputy plan- ner, MMRDA. “Instead of going overboard with foreign concepts, we need original thinking to address local situations.”
Shanghai shows the way, again Till 2000: Like Mumbai, Shanghai had the same public toilet problems – ammonia stench, lack of running wa- ter, no toilet paper, urination on the sidewalk and fewer toilets for women.
Cut to 2007: If you are looking for a public toilet on the streets of Shanghai, just follow universal signs with dis- tance and direction to the nearest public toilet. And a toilet helpline too. Shanghai has been trying to increase the number of public toilets and curb users from dam- aging them. While there is one toilet every 1,000 feet, plans are to nearly double that by 2010. The city has 6,150 public toilets. The transformation happened because of a 200 mil- lion yuan (approximately Rs 96 crore) investment on public toilets by the Shanghai Municipal Government. There is also a star-rating toilet system. Public toilets are assigned one to five stars depending on the quality of toilet tissues to automatic flushing. While the fee for an ordinary toilet is 0.5 yuan – Rs 2.40 – the charges for a five-star toilet goes up to Rs 4.80 There are plans for disabled- and child-friendly toi- lets, movable and eco-friendly toilets and water-free uri- nals that do not need flushing and are odour-free. Toilet attendants learn simple English and even sign language. The count 50 lakh people per day are on the city’s roads 6,500 public toilet workers in Mumbai 5 employees per toilet Rs 10 lakh for building a public toilet Rs 10,000 per month is the approximate rev- enue from each toilet
IT’S CLEAN-UP TIME: 100 public toilets, owned by Sulabh Inter- national, are getting new doors, taps and more water. Loo and behold ¦ The world’s first modern sewer was built in London in 1850. ¦ More than half of the developing world’s popu- lation still have no access to decent toilets. ¦ An average person uses the toilet 2,500 times a year, or about 6 times a day. ¦ Three years of one’s life are spent in the toilet. ¦ Because of biological dif- ferences, women spend three times longer in toi- lets than men. But there are usually more toilet booths for men. ¦ No real estimated size of the global toilet industry. Since restrooms and relat- ed infrastructure account for about 7% of total con- struction costs, industry worth is probably in the tens of billions of dollars.
Source: World Toilet Organisation Flush of ideas Five-star toilets H E HAS built and commissioned two five- star toilets in the city. They are disabled- friendly with wall-sized mirrors and equipped with toilet soap and hand dryers. And there are surprise checks every day. Having built 45 five-star toilets in Delhi in the last 10 years, Fuad Lokhandwala, proprietor of Fumes International, in 2005, was approached by then mayor Datta Dalvi and municipal commis- sioner Johny Joseph and invited to replicate the model in Mumbai. Of the 95 contracts awarded to him, Lokhand- wala will build 15 more by 2008 end. Currently, while the third toilet is waiting to be commis- sioned, two are under construction – at Church- gate and Mahim. Building a toilet has not been easy for Lokhand- wala, a non-resident Indian for 25 years. “There have been a lot of hassles, from political pressure to space constraints,” he said. From the design studio W ATER-FREE urinals, one changing sta- tion, two handicap-friendly toilets, low urinals for children and landscape area inside the toilet Such a public toilet may stand at the tip of Na- riman Point, opposite the National Centre for Per- forming Arts. Designed in September 2006 by Harshad Shitole, a 21-year-old student at the JJ School of Architec- ture – he also the won the faculty gold medal for public toilet design – the toilet will have 20 per cent more space than normal pay-and-use lavatories. While a changing station and children’s urinals were adopted after studying street toilets in Aus- tralia, the landscape idea is original. Shitole has submitted his drawing to the BMC, which in turn has sent it to the MMRDA for the necessary sanctions. “It will take some time,” said the final year student. Shitole was also approached by the office of architect Ratan Batliboi, in charge of refurbishment of Marine Drive. “They want to incorporate my design in the makeover project,” he said. The best part of Shitole’s design is that there will be a frosted glass wall facing the sea. “While waiting their turn, users can enjoy the sea view and the Cuffe Parade skyline,” he said.
THE SEA-FACING TOILET: Architecture student Harshad Shitole’s design will be used to build a toilet near NCPA. (Below) A graphical represen- tation of how the structure will look. Mumbai has 1,300 pay-and-use toilets for 14 million people. That is one public toilet for 10,769 people. Singapore has 60,000 public toilets for its 4.5 million population – one toilet for 75 people. Mumbai needs to build another 1,000 toilets to be comfortable. A huge task, given no toilet was made in the last year and some existing ones demolished to widen roads. Stumbling blocks Reality check from the trustees Setting up a pay-and-use toilet is not easy, say toilet owners. While the construction could take as little as three months, it could take three years to issue the work order. “Mumbai can never become Shanghai simply because there is so much political interference,” said a toilet trustee, requesting anonymity. This sentiment is echoed by owners of the 50 trusts and non- government organisations involved in the construction of public toilets in the city. Politicisation starts from the time the civic body gives a go- ahead for toilet construction, following which an advertisement is put up on the proposed site asking for objections from the community. “Most of the time, we have to approach the local corporator to get things moving. But if a corporator from one party gets to know that the trustee has approached a corporator from anoth- er party, the former will raise an objection and the toilet can then never come up,” said a trustee. Where corporations fear to tread Large companies have funded only about 90 toilets in the city. The first pay-and-use toilet was sponsored by HDFC Bank in 1988 at Dadar TT. But there have not been too many since. “Corporate sponsors can be encouraged only if the civic admin- istration is interested. They need to be given special treatment, else they can put their funds on other activities,” said M.R. Shah, former chief engineer with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Shah cited the example of another corporate house that in 2003 wanted to fund public toilets. “They were willing to build any number of toilets. I personally wrote about 12 letters to the BMC, but never got a response,” he said. Director of Singapore-based World Toilet Organisation Jack Sim said corporate-sponsored toilets were “very good”. “More the competition, more innovation and better service will prevail. However, the investor must have a social investment approach, that is revenue for sustainability but not for pure profit,” said Sim. Said a civic official: “Corporate houses do not want to be involved in time-taking procedures. They give funds and let an NGO do the rest.” BANGALORE HAS DONE IT Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys founder N.R. Narayan Murthy, donated Rs 8 crore to the Ban- galore civic body, with which 100 pay-and-use toilets were built in the city. The toilets are managed by private groups. THE MUMBAI PROJECT SCHEDULE 1 The Eastern Freeways India’s longest sea bridge could trans- form our city. But corrections are need- ed if the Harbour Link is to change Mumbai as the Dong Hai did Shanghai 2 The Western Sea Links By 2009, a 7-minute cruise instead of today’s 40-minute crawl. India’s first sea bridge is an engi- neering marvel, but China’s built six such bridges in five years 3 The Mumbai Metro If we get cracking, the Metro can do to Mum- bai what the Skytrain did to Bangkok 4 The New Taxis The first of the swanky taxis have reached Mumbai roads. The real revo- lution will come with the transformation of the decrepit Padminis 5 The Railway Transformation The first purple-and- silver, next-generation train is here. More are on their way 6 The Water Alternative Ferries running down Mumbai’s coasts can make your life easier and cheaper. The plans are already in place. So why can’t we be like Sydney or Hong Kong? The Road Transformation Mumbai’s roads can- not compare with Shanghai, or even Bangkok. But pothole- resistant concrete roads and flyovers are spreading. It’s never going to be enough 8 The Waterfronts Mumbai has 62 km of beaches, rocks, bays and estuaries. Only a fifth is open to the public. How we can create beautiful public spaces – and earn the city money 9 The Airport Makeover India’s busiest air- port is getting swank new interiors and facilities. But it’s all going to be torn down as engineers create a new airport over the old 10 The New Rail Station A plan to revamp Mumbai’s four most crowded stations kicks off this month. 11 The Public Toilet One of the keys to transforming China’s cities was new toi- lets. Infosys has done this in Bangalore. We too could be free of our great city’s great stink TOMORROW The Garbage Makeover Mumbai is defined by its trash. Good initia- tives have come from our city’s creative minds. Common sense can make us like the rest of Asia 13 The Heritage Projects Cities with similar grand colonial edifices – Singapore, Sydney – have done a great job cashing in on their legacy. A movement has started, just about 14 The Vertical Question To shine, Mumbai, now the least vertical of global big cities, must rise. But the state must stop using rules about how high we can go as a lever of power 15 The Pavements Mumbai is spending Rs 50 crore this year to create new foot- paths. So why are so many senior citizens finding it hard to use our fancy, new pavements? 16 The Great Drains Mumbai’s 19th- century drains are being reinvented in line with our global aspirations and to prevent a deluge. But why can’t we learn from New Orleans? 17 The Parking Imperative Your city wants to build 21 underground parking lots. But they could lie unused, like CR2 at Nariman Point, and are unlike- ly to solve Mumbai’s parking woes 18 The Water Project Middle-class Mumbai uses as much water daily as Shanghai. Surprise: We have enough water. The problem is in our pipes, which we are finally fixing 19 The Big Money Private developers, and you, will finance the multibillion dollar makeover of Mumbai, a city poised to become the world’s largest urban agglomeration 20 Who’s in Charge? From London south- wards, global cities have chosen a direct- ly elected mayor. Mumbai’s makeover, handled by 12 agencies, crawls. We can change that
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Published on November 30 2007, Page 12
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