New Delhi: The administrative district of National Capital Region, Central Delhi, is considered as one of the cleanest and most planned localities of NCR. The region attracts a substantial footfall during the week and the weekend alike. Recognising the need to maintain the cleanliness and hygiene public restrooms, New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) has constructed three ‘pink toilets’ in the area. The three washrooms are located at Parliament Street (Sansad Marg) Outer Circle, Connaught Place – near Super Bazaar and one in South Delhi’s Factory Road – near Safdarjang Hospital. These toilets are equipped with facilities like sanitary napkin vending machine and breast feeding table.
According to Mr. M.S. Khan, Additional Chief Engineer – NDMC, the toilets can be used free of cost (other than the subsidised rate for the sanitary napkins) and the locations have been chosen carefully keeping the crowd in mind.
Since we have built three toilets to begin with, we have chosen the locations very sensibly, as one is in inner circle near a super market, the other is in outer circle and the third one is on ring road, near a government hospital. All these areas see heavy footfall during the day and night, and therefore the public restrooms should be up to the mark, he said.
NDMC has also ensured conveniences like couches, European toilets in addition to Indian style and toilets for the handicapped so that women from all walks of life can use the toilets.
The toilets have breastfeeding table, couches, sanitary napkin vending machine, different types of toilets and basins for kids and adults, handicap toilets and we have even kept details as small as keeping the handbags in mind and there is place for even that, he added.
The toilet interior and exterior are beautified with the colour pink to mark the exclusivity of the toilets, as on the outside it has pink bands, and pink tiles and walls on the inside. Pink colour also makes it easy to spot the washrooms, Mr. Khan explained.
The NDMC on Monday informed the Delhi High court about the pink toilets when a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao were hearing a plea filed by a nine-month-old Avyaan through his mother Neha Rastogi and advocate Animesh Rastogi, seeking court’s intervention in providing adequate facilities to lactating mothers and infants in the country.
Women’s Right to Privacy is hampered due to lack of breastfeeding facilities at public places. Women are harassed and mocked by public at large, the petitioner said.
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Breastfeeding in public has become a debatable issue when mothers find it difficult to manage nursing during travelling. Breastfeeding in public is still a state of awkwardness among many young moms, the petitioner added.
The NDMC told the court that it is supporting the menstrual cause and its departments concerned are conducting survey and discussion to assess the feasibility of providing the baby feeding facility at public places like park, bus stand and community halls.
Mr. Khan also told NDTV about NDMC’s plans of constructing the next pink toilet in Sarojini Nagar, near the market, another female favourite area in the city.
The concept of Pink Toilet was first introduced in the city by South Delhi Municipal Corporation, on the occasion of the International Day for the Girl Child, on October 11, 2017, when SDMC inaugurated the first ‘pink toilet’ in Vikaspuri area.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
