The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) believes in getting the best out of waste, literally. For, the agency is now planning to rent out space on toilet blocks built by it under the ‘Nirmal MMR Abhiyan’ for advertising revenue.
Conceived by incumbent chief secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad during his tenure as the Metropolitan Commissioner, the project will see 25,569 toilet seats being built at 1,289 sites in civic and council areas in Thane and Raigad districts, in a bid to eradicate open defecation and provide proper sanitation to the poor and slum dwellers alike. This includes sites in the Thane, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Mira-Bhayendar, Ulhasnagar, Vasai- Virar and the Kalyan-Dombivli municipal corporation areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Confirming the move, a senior MMRDA official said it was followed by the local municipal bodies passing resolutions in their general body meetings to give advertising rights to the MMRDA. “Some sites in the Mira-Bhayendar and Thane municipal areas have good potential for advertisements,” said the official, adding that the move will help MMRDA recover a portion of the Rs300 crore spent as grants on the toilet project.
The Nirmal MMR Abhiyan, under which construction work was started in 2008, has also seen old toilet blocks being razed and new ones being built to enhance capacity, apart from bathrooms being built for women. The toilet blocks are to be maintained by the community-based organisations.
