Mumbai: Bio-toilet to make waves at Juhu beach soon

The fabricated bio-toilet recently received by the BMC

The design for bio-toilets that are to be set up at the city's beaches is ready. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had, last year, directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to install toilets along the seashore so that beaches are not soiled. The BMC, which recently received a fabricated bio-toilet, announced this project in May 2022.

The first such toilet will be set up at Juhu beach, according to a civic official. These toilets will also have a facility for transgender people. "Installation of bio-toilets will start soon," said Anant Bhagwatkar, assistant municipal commissioner of the solid waste management department. "We need to make a concrete base for the installation of this toilet. There will be seven seats in each toilet - three for men, two for women, one for transgender individuals and a western toilet for the differently abled," he added.

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The BMC has decided to install 27 toilets with a rooftop solar-powered unit on the basis of footfall on an initial basis. There will be eight toilets each at Juhu and the Dadar-Mahim seashore and two each at Girgaon, Madh Marve, and Manori-Gorai beaches and five at Versova. The project will cost R3.20 crore. "As all these areas come under the Coastal Regulation Zone, it won't be possible to construct sewer lines. Therefore, these toilets will be bio-toilets," said a BMC official.

Another official explained the term, saying, "Bio-toilets refer to a mechanised decomposition system which breaks down human waste using specific high-graded bacteria, mainly aerobic or anaerobic. So there is no need to connect the sewerage network to the toilet."