The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation has installed three bio-toilets near the Kestopur bus stand. These toilets will be inaugurated within a few weeks, an official of the corporation said. 
 
Pranay Kumar Ray, the mayoral council member in charge of health, said that the toilets had been installed keeping in mind the needs of countless commuters who travel through the stretch. 

“Thousands of people pass through the area everyday but there were no toilets in the vicinity. This is why we installed the three toilets here,” said Ray. 

According to him, there will be separate toilets for men and women but he did not specify a number. 

The toilets have been purchased from a Behala-based firm, Ray said. 

According to him these toilets have a system by means of which the sludge (faecal matter) is decomposed through the use of a specific high-grade bacteria, which converts it into methane and water. 

This is discharged further to the desired surface. The bacteria in the compartment would need to get recharged once a year and they can also multiply through an auto-regeneration process. 

One of the main advantages of bio-toilets is the fact that they does not consume much water during each usage. “We need only 500ml of water per flush which is a boon,” said Ray. 

According to him, the civic body is looking for more areas to place such toilets and is also mulling to convert the existing public toilet complexes with bio toilets. 

The authorities had placed a number of bio-toilets both inside and outside the Salt Lake stadium during the Fifa Under-17 World Cup when thousands had descended to watch the football matches.

Bio-toilets are also used during Durga puja when the civic body requests puja organisers to ensure that there are toilets in the vicinity of the pandals. 

According to Ray, this year too they will place bio-toilets on the major thoroughfare and puja organisers will also be asked to place some of them at their own cost.