The Times of India                26.09.2013  

Cleaner Chennai: 750 more toilets soon

CHENNAI: The city's hygiene quotient will soon go up as the corporation has decided to construct 750 modern public toilets across the city.

A senior corporation official said they had finalised the locations for the proposed toilets and a tender will be floated in a couple of weeks. Officials said the toilets will be installed at crowded locations like bus depots, markets and slums.

To attract more private firms, this time the civic body has relaxed the tender conditions. "Private firms can use the outer and inside walls for advertising to generate revenue. The firms cannot charge a user fee from the public and will have to maintain the toilets well," said an official.

The body had earlier planned to construct 2,000 toilets but the plan failed to take off as the tender conditions were too stringent. The firms could neither charge a user fee nor hire space for advertisements, which gave them no avenue to generate income.

"Many private firms had expressed their concern about maintaining a large number of toilets. So we have split the 750 modern public toilets into different packages for tender to attract more firms," the official said.

The corporation is also considering the 'namma toilet' model. The commissionerate of municipal administration set up the first sensor-based solar toilet at Tambaram bus station in February. Close to 500 people use it every day. 'Namma toilets' have been set up in Trichy and Ooty.

"The 'namma toilet' design came from public consultation. A feedback book is kept at the toilets to collect complaints and suggestions from users. Unlike normal public toilets, these toilets have proper ventilation, water and lighting," said an official.

TOI's Chennai Patrol highlighted the need for public toilets and suggested the 'namma toilet' model for the city. Its Quality of Life survey found that people in 95% of the wards (190 of the 200 wards) rated toilets poorly.