Shiv Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray and Mayor of Mumbai Vishwanath Mahadeshwar inaugurate The Mumbai Central Toilet Project

• First Women’s Only sanitation facility at Mumbai Central suburban railway station will now open for public use

• The Mumbai Central Toilet is a project in partnership between Samatech, Norway-based Back In The Ring and JSW Foundation

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 2, 2018 – The Mumbai Central Toilet Project was inaugurated today by Shri  Aaditya Thackeray, President – Yuva Sena (Youth wing of Shiv Sena) and Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, Mayor of Mumbai.  Samatech, a Smart Sanitation focused company, Norway-based Back In The Ring (BITR), and JSW Foundation have executed The Mumbai Central Toilet Project, first Women’s Only sanitation facility at Mumbai’s suburban railway station, with support from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Designed by renowned designer architect, Tanya Singh, The Mumbai Central Toilet Project has been designed and created as a holistic, progressive and evolved solution for today’s woman. Conceived around women’s different roles, this sanitation facility at Mumbai Central suburban railway station addresses specific needs of feminine hygiene, offers child stations for mothers and changing rooms for women professionals. The design has been kept practical and the facility has been created using easily maintainable, locally procured material.

The physical construction of the Mumbai Central sanitation facility under The Toilet Project was undertaken by an empowering group from Norway, BITR, led by world renowned Ashtanga Yoga teacher Alexander Medin.

Commenting on the Women’s Only sanitation facility inaugurated in Mumbai, Mr. Akshat Gupta – Founder, Samatech Foundation said, “This project is at its heart about a Women’s dignity. Mumbai’s Women lack access to clean and safe sanitation facilities and face significant hardships for the same. Through our pilot project at Mumbai Central Station we have created a scalable template to overcome the sanitation insecurity women face everyday.”

According to Mr Biswadip Gupta, CEO – JSW Foundation, “Women empowerment and health are critical pillars of our CSR. We recognize the issue of shortage of proper sanitation facilities for women as a major problem in the country. The Toilet Project is aimed at taking a step forward to solve this problem, one step at a time.”

Mumbai Central railway station is an important suburban railway station in Mumbai. It serves as a connecting point for both local and intercity trains. The train network transports over 7.5 million people daily. The location was identified and provided by the Municipality of Mumbai as a statement of their support and commitment for the cause.

About Samatech: The Samatech Foundation is the social development arm of Samatech, a clean technology company with a vision to introduce sustainable and clean sanitation technologies to the Indian Subcontinent. At its root, the founders believe there is an urgent need for humanity to employ and invent sanitation technologies that are smart, cost effective, clean and sustainable in nature. The Samatech Foundation realises that improving access to smart sanitation is essential for achieving gender equality and economic growth in India. The foundation holds that sanitation is not a luxury for the affluent community, but rather a necessity for the Indian people. The Samatech foundation works with the local Governing Municipalities to identify, facilitate and fund sanitation projects for the local communities and endeavours to take active participatory role in execution and maintenance of these projects.