BMC to permit construction of private toilets in slums

MUMBAI, September 22: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun removing administrative hurdles to pave the way for construction of private toilet blocks for slum dwellers, which is illegal presently, an official said here today. A senior BMC officer said the draft proposal of this initiative which will be tabled during its standing committee meeting tommorrow, is expected to get the approval of councillors. According to a BMC survey, almost 11 lakh people in municipal limits use public toilets, while over 30,000 citizens defecate in the open. BMC's Additional Municipal Commissioner Pallavi Darade said allowing slum dwellers to construct private toilets is part of Union Urban Development Ministry's plan to implement its Swachh Bharat plan. "We surveyed 11 lakh slum households and found that even who used community toilets wanted to have their own private and individual toilets," Darade, who is supervising the project, said. She said there is also a provision under the Swachh Bharat plan which would provide Centre as state government's financial help to slum dwellers. "We have proposed that each slum dweller should get Rs 4,000 from the centre and and Rs 1,000 from the state government," Darade said, adding, final amount of financial assistance is being worked out. Presently, almost 60 lakh slum dwellers face problems answering nature's call due to space constraints and out of these, less than two percent are connected to Mumbai's severage network, she said. "So, we have launched an effort to construct 63,000 toilets with 2,095 seats," Darade said, adding, the BMC has been building public toilets in slums, while funds received under the Swachh Bharat campaign will be used to construct more toilets.