Swachh Bharat: Delhi to get 480 pubic toilet seats at 80 locations

New Delhi, July 30: Stressing the need for speedy action under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the urban development ministry has decided to install 480 public toilet seats at 80 locations in Delhi in the next three months.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Madhusudan Prasad, Urban Development secretary, chief executives of New Delhi Municipal Corporation, the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi and Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), Delhi government's special secretary, chairman of Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) and other senior officials.

Prasad stressed the need for speedy action under Swachh Bharat Mission and expressed concern over negative perceptions about tardy progress in Delhi.

"Various models of public toilets, including hugely popular 'NAMMA' model being implemented in Tamil Nadu and the ones evolved by DUAC were discussed in detail in the meeting," a government statement said on Thursday.

The NAMMA model of public toilets is based on the suggestion of A.P.J. Adbul Kalam when he was principal scientific advisor to the then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1998 and is now being used in Tamil Nadu.

The NAMMA toilets were also appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he saw the composite material model at the exhibition during the launch of three new urban missions last month.

"The four urban local bodies of Delhi will identify 20 locations each for installing public toilet complex with six seats each. Both the 'NAMMA' and DUAC models will be used for building them," the statement added.

The National Buildings Construction Corporation will bear part of the expenditure under Corporate Social Responsibility.

DUSIB will prepare an action plan for installing about 1,000 community toilet seats in slum areas.

For building community toilet seats, 40 percent viability gap funding will be extended while this support will not be available for building public toilet seats, for the use of which nominal user charges will be levied.

Under Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas, 1,25,398 individual household toilets, 9,156 public toilet seats and 1,982 community toilet seats are to be built by 2019 besides ensuring 100 percent solid waste management. This is estimated to cost Rs.350 crore.

IANS