There is much talk and focus on building toilets in India to end the practice of open defecation. A staggeringly large number is needed. In urban India, most of the toilets to be built will need to be community and public toilets. While a rural toilet is subsidised (Rs. 12,000 per unit) with a single pit as a receptacle for waste, the urban toilet is owner built without subsidy.
The arrangement of a separate toilet and bathroom is getting over. Now they are combined and a typical house will have two to three washrooms as they are called. These spaces have to be clean, hygienic, well ventilated and designed with the best fixtures and tiles. A quick count for a simple washroom listed 23 different appurtenances going in, from a shower cubicle, mirrors and cabinets to wall dado tiles and anti-skid flooring. The approximate spend on just the internal items alone was Rs. 1.2 lakh. The washroom is the costliest space in a modern home on a per square foot basis.
Architects and clients spend hours getting the design right and detailing out each small item carefully. The product list for showers, taps, mixers, cubicles et al is increasing in terms of choice and costs. A single W.C. can sell for as high as Rs. 2 lakh. It comes with a remote for a hygienic wash too. This seems to increase the “loo divide” between the rich India and the poor India.
Scope is expandingMagazines have sprung up exclusively on washrooms and even urban sanitation has an excellent magazine on its own. In the coming days the economy of the washroom will create more and more products and jobs right across the spectrum from advertising to product manufacturers, to communicators to designers. The stereotypical ugly Indian is for sure changing in so far as the private residence is concerned.
Community and public toilets too are getting more spic and span with the fabulous e-toilets setting the benchmark. Made of stainless steel the interiors have an air conditioning in some designs.
In the family planning parlance of yore the oft quoted slogan was that development was the best contraceptive, pointing to the fact that richer economies and families tend to have fewer children. In the sanitation parlance, development will be the best sanitizer too. It is another matter that the rich tend to consume more of resources like water and pollute more through increased waste streams.
That will be needed to be handled through appropriate pricing strategies and other interventions. For the moment sanitation will be big business in India and we will be a cleaner society for that if we get our act right.
