80% respondents give good feedback for Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation public toilets

A year after Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation introduced a QR code scanning system to enable citizens to share their feedback and suggestions, the administration has received a total of 6,162 responses; 7% recorded the condition of toilets condition to be unclean, 20% said the hygiene standards need to be satisfactory while 80% of the public gave good feedback

A year after Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) introduced a QR code scanning system to enable citizens to share their feedback and suggestions, the administration has received a total of 6,162 responses.

Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, in a bid to ensure that the community and public toilets in the city are kept neat, had launched the QR code system in February 2021. (BACHCHAN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

The NMMC, in a bid to ensure that the community and public toilets in the city are kept neat, had launched the QR code system in February 2021.

“The idea was to have real-time understanding about the status of the public toilets. We have over 600 public and community toilets, and keeping them clean was of utmost importance, both from hygiene and ranking point of view in the upcoming Clean India survey,” said B Rajale, deputy municipal corporation (solid waste management).

The QR code system has been installed in 278 community toilets and 128 public toilets across the seven nodes of the city. The NMMC had received the ODF++ rating for Open Defecation Free (ODF) last year.

Maximum responses were recorded in June with 603 users giving their feedback and the least was recorded in November, 219. Officials tracking the scanning stated that of the 6,000-odd responses received, 7% recorded the toilet condition to be unclean, 20% said the hygiene standards need to be satisfactory while 80% gave good feedback.

“The feedback wherein users found the toilet to be unclean was attended immediately. It was found that the users don’t flush the toilets and even spit pan and gutka. Over the months, we have managed to bring down the negative remarks to nearly 4%,” said the official in-charge.

Residents too vouched for the hygiene standards of NMMC-maintained public toilets. Sandeep Bangia, a resident of NRI Complex, Seawoods, personally inspected the e-toilets set up along Palm Beach Road. “As a part of the Swachh Bharat survey, I was asked by the NMMC about the cleanliness of public toilets. I decided to personally inspect and was happy to see that these were well maintained. In fact, they also had soaps available. This is something rarely found in public toilets elsewhere,” he said.