A huge 5,000 litre water tank is being constructed to meet the demands of the luxury toilet. Pradip Chowdhury, an executive engineer and the brain behind the project, feels the toilet will match international standards.

The proposal was sanctioned by former mayor Subrata Mukherjee in April 2005. However, the Left Front kept it on hold after winning the civic polls on grounds that KMC cannot afford to spend on such luxuries. Later, mayor Bikash Bhattacharya gave a go-ahead after mayor-in-council member Abu Sufian convinced him that the current pay-and-use toilets are nothing like the earlier public toilets . Citizens are now willing to pay for better amenities, Sufian argued.

It's indeed a long journey for the KMC as far as construction of toilets is concerned. In 1998, the city had only 45 public loos all most all of them dirty and stinking. And the budget of constructing a toilet would vary between Rs 50,000-Rs 75,000. The scenario changed in 2002 with the civic administration deciding to spend lakhs of rupees for construction of designer toilets. From 45, the number rose to 153 in 2006. The budget now varies between Rs 3 lakhs to 15 lakhs, the toilet at Southern Avenue being an exception.

The revenue generated from payand-use toilets has gone up from Rs 1 lakh in 1998 to Rs 40 lakhs in 2005 and touched Rs 50 lakhs this year, said a KMC official. The KMC now plans to build 25 more such toilet in the next one year, the MMiC said.