Failed waterless urinal project revived

Over 300 waterless urinal complexes in north Delhi which had been neglected over the past few years is set be revived by the local civic body. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, however, said the urinals would be converted to conventional ones with water connections.

Part of 1,000 such complexes constructed across Delhi before the 2010 Commonwealth Games, 338 waterless urinals in north Delhi were supposed to be cleaned using chemicals, in a water saving measure. Advertising companies were roped in to maintain the complexes in lieu of revenue from advertisements installed on the façade of the structures. However, most urinal complexes were not maintained properly and the project quickly turned a failure.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation is now reviving the project by outsourcing the complexes again. On October 19, the civic body’s Standing Committee passed a proposal to outsource the maintenance of the 338 waterless urinals. The six zones of north Delhi were divided into clusters of two each. The contract for each cluster would go to a different company for a period of three years, and net the corporation between Rs.5 lakh and Rs.8 lakh in monthly licence fee.

Acknowledging that waterless technology did not work, Standing Committee Chairperson Parvesh Wahi said the urinals would be converted to conventional ones with water connections and sewer lines or pits. “It’s true that the previous project failed, but just because that did not work doesn’t mean we should stop trying. In a couple of months, people will be able to use the improved urinal complexes,” added Mr. Wahi.

He said that the corporation would also be constructing 40 community toilet complexes to give sanitation a boost as per the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The Opposition Congress, however, recorded its dissent against the proposal to outsource the waterless urinals, saying the project would fail again.

“We cannot support this. The waterless urinals are being outsourced again, only to give undue benefits to advertising companies. They will once again put up their advertisements and forget about maintaining the urinals,” said Mukesh Goel, Leader of Opposition.