The Hindu 07.03.2013
Minister inspects solar toilets
Municipal administration and rural development minister
K.P. Munusamy on Wednesday inspected the sensor and solar-based toilets
installed on GST Road in Tambaram.
The inspection was
part of efforts to review the possibility of expanding the pilot scheme
to other local bodies across the city.
‘Namma
toilets’, the State’s first such facilities, were recently installed at
the junction of Duraiswamy Reddy Street and GST Road by the Tambaram
municipality.
The toilet blocks have a stall each for elderly women and women with physical disabilities, one for men and another for women.
Officials of the Tambaram municipality said that on an average, about 800 people use the toilets daily.
The
solar-powered lighting in the toilet stalls is synchronised with
sensors that detect movement and switch on and off accordingly, thereby
saving energy.
The project has proved successful, as it is located in an area close to a bus terminus, officials said.
The minister enquired about the eco-friendly measures adopted, and also looked at suggestions in the visitors’ book.
The
Tambaram municipality has identified four areas, including Nehru Nagar,
to install eight more units by the end of this month.
There are plans to take the project to other municipalities and corporations in the State as well, officials said.
