CHENNAI: After many years of city residents raising a stink over unhygienic public toilets, the city corporation has now entered into a public-private partnership to construct public toilets through a consortium in 90 locations spread across Royapuram, Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar and a part of Marina Beach. This is the first time that service buildings or toilets will be provided ratings under the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), which brings together a host of sustainable practices and solutions to reduce the adverse environmental impact of construction.
The 90 new solar-powered toilets will have natural ventilation and light, and rainwater harvesting pits, said Dr R Suresh Babu, managing director of RSB, one of the members of the consortium, which has come forward to ensure the maintenance of toilets. “The toilets will have dedicated seats for transpersons and people with disabilities. We are vying to make the toilets a ‘net zero carbon’ initiative. Further, the toilets in all the 90 locations will vie for the IGBC’s gold rating. The public will be able to use the toilets free of cost, and some of these could be assigned as community toilets for the poor. Two persons will man each toilet in separate shifts,” Babu told TNIE.
Existing toilets in 280 locations in the city will also be renovated under the same public-private partnership, but they won’t be brought under the IGBC ambit. A Greater Chennai Corporation official told TNIE that the existing 280 and new 90 toilets (a total of 370 locations) will comprise a total of 3,270 seats.
The toilets in 370 locations would be maintained by the consortium for eight years after which it will be handed over to the city corporation.
The project worth Rs 270 crore is being funded by the State Bank of India. Capital for building the toilets in 90 locations is estimated at Rs 70 crore. CCTV cameras will be installed outside the toilets, and women can also make use of the sanitary napkin dispenser in the toilets. “People using these toilets won’t feel cramped for space, and the ventilation is designed in such a way that the place won’t stink,” said Babu.
The project is implemented under the hybrid annuity model (HAM). It is a mix of two models -– Build Own Transfer (BOT) Annuity, where a contractor or developer assumes responsibility for the entire lifecycle of the project; and EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction), a type of project delivery model (or contract agreement) where contractors are responsible for the project from start to finish of construction.