30% of new public toilets in Kolkata to be reserved for women, 75 of these in CBD & shopping hubs | Kolkata News – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

KOLKATA: On the day President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the women’s reservation bill that provides 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies, Kolkata Municipal Corporation said it has decided to reserve 30% of the new public toilets to be set up in the city for women.
The KMC plans to construct at least 400 new public toilets across 144 wards.
“We will reserve at least 30% of these newly constructed toilets for women. The rest will be for both men and women,” said an official of KMC’s slum development department that looks after construction and maintenance of public toilets in the city.
At least 75 of these women’s-only toilets will be set up in areas frequented by women – the central business district, shopping zones and around hospitals – and guarded 24×7 by women.
Mayor Firhad Hakim said the KMC was actively scouting for land to construct these toilets. Eleven sites had already been identified for the purpose.
“Primarily, we need land in the city’s central business district, where women come to work in large numbers. We also need land in the shopping zones as women feel helpless in these areas as they find toilets here that are unhygienic. We have also decided to shift from the traditional pay-and-use toilets to modern ones with features like changing rooms and nursing areas,” Hakim said.
The KMC is set to launch two mobile toilets for men and women in neighbourhoods that do not have public toilets, the mayor said, adding that more such toilets…

Original Author Link click here to read complete story..