Mumbai's New Eco-Friendly, Women-Only Restroom

Mumbai has a toilet shortage. Only 10,381 public toilets exist to meet the needs of the city’s 12 million people, and for women, the situation is even more grim: only 36 percent of those commodes are reserved specifically for their use.

In Thane, just northwest of the city center, the sanitation advocacy group Agasti is testing out a solution: an all-women’s restroom, situated along a central thoroughfare close to the local bus terminal. Arranged around the base of a tree, the cluster of four private toilets resembles a well-lit, pink-tinged shipping container from the outside. On the inside, it’s clean and calm. In the communal sitting area, women rest on benches and chat under the shade created by overhanging leaves.