mumbai

Updated: Feb 03, 2018 15:41 IST

A public toilet for women, built by ex-convicts and former drug addicts from Norway, was inaugurated near Mumbai Central station on Friday.

The project was initiated by a group called ‘Back in the Ring’, led by Alexander Medin, a yoga teacher from Norway, under whose guidance the 15-member team started building the toilet last year.

“India’s future is all about empowering women. When I travelled across India, I noticed that there was need for sanitation facility and toilets for women,” said Ann Ollestad, the Consul General of Norway.

Speaking about the need for women sanitation in the city, Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said that while infrastructure in the city was being looked into, it was also necessary to provide women with facilities to promote hygiene among them.

“We are building coastal roads, highways, hospitals and health care centres, but the city also requires toilets for women. It is facilities like these which bring a smile on the faces of young girls,” said Mahadeshwar.

Yuva Sena president Aaditya Thackeray, who inaugurated the toilet block along with Tarini Jindal Handa from JSW Foundation, also expressed concern about the safety of women in India in the wake of a Delhi incident wherein an eight-month old baby was raped.

“We in India are winning World Cups and excelling in sports and arts. We are developing as a country, but do we give women the kind of respect that they deserve,” Thackeray questioned at the event.

The all women’s sanitation facility consists of seven toilet blocks, a child feeding station, a changing room and a sanitary napkin dispenser. The facility has been built for Rs20 lakh, contributed by an Indian corporate house and some volunteers. The facility will stay open all day long, but will be shut at night.