BHUBANESWAR: The city’s sanitation will get another upgrade with proposed “Improved Sanitation Services For Bhubaneswar” project by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to sign a MoU with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Discussions have been going on for the past six months for the project which will focus mainly on building new toilets and upgrading the existing ones. The major problem with the existing toilets are that they go out of use and get damaged very fast. “We are planning to build sustainable toilets that will last long. Though sanitation, health and education fall under the project, initially only sanitation and health will be taken up,” said Vishal K Dev, Municipal Commissioner. Under the project, there are provisions to build new community toilets, upgrade the existing community toilets and provide technical know-how to manage the sanitation of the city. The community toilets will be concentrated mostly in the slum areas. A plant for solid waste management will be set up. Under this project, 22 new community toilets and 38 community upgraded toilets will come up. A sanitation programme management office, comprising two or three persons, will be set up who will provide expertise to BMC. While the project will cost around Rs 6 crore, BMC’s share will be Rs 45 lakh. The funding for the project, which will be implemented in the first quarter of 2012 and evaluated in 2014, is expected to be approved this month. The delegates from Gates Foundation have made several trips to the city to discuss the project. Along with BMC and the Foundation, Jameel Poverty Action Lab and Quicksand Design Studio will also provide support to the project.
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