Dhaka has over 10 million residents but only 60 public toilets. A 2011 WaterAid Bangladesh study found that over half are in poor condition – 35 don’t feature women- and child-friendly facilities, over 16 are located in unsafe locations, 28 don’t contain a reliable water supply and over 37 toilets are unlit. Recognising the public health implications of this service gap, WaterAid Bangladesh plan to renovate up to 37 of the existing public toilets and construct 20 new ones to support the Dhaka North City and Dhaka South City corporations.
Mott MacDonald will prepare engineering, structural, architectural, plumbing and electrical designs, drawings, estimates and bidding documents. The consultancy will also supervise the construction and renovation work.
Farook Chowdhury, Mott MacDonald’s project director, said: “As well as modernising the majority of Dhaka’s public toilets, we are also looking to improve them environmentally as well. We plan to install solar panels to reduce overall energy consumption, while rainwater harvesting and green roofs are other ideas we are exploring to make the entire system more sustainable as a whole.”
The project is due to be completed by autumn 2016.
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