The Hindu                 30.05.2013

Raichur city fails to wake up to e-toilets

They remain in disuse even nine months after the launch.

The headquarters of one of the backward districts of
the State witnessed a progressive initiative in sanitation management
with the Raichur City Municipal Council (CMC) inaugurating three
electronic toilets on August 14, 2012.

The e-toilets
at three vital spots in the city — near the CMC, Ambedkar Circle and
Teen Kandeel circle — were the first of their kind in the State. Nine
months on, however, the toilets have hardly been used.

CMC
Commissioner in charge V. Shashikala blamed lack of awareness among the
people for it. “People don’t know how to use these technologically
advanced toilets. They are afraid to use it; they fear being locked up
inside the toilets,” she says.

It seems that the CMC
was in a hurry to achieve a paradigm shift from the most backward to the
most forward district through these hi-tech e-toilets. But it didn’t
show the same enthusiasm in educating the public on how to use these
toilets, thanks to which the toilets remained almost unused. And one
fine day the CMC men promptly locked them and forgot about them.

The
toilets were built at a cost of around Rs. 5 lakh each.
Thiruvananthapuram-based Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd., which had
built several such toilets in Kerala with government funds, built it in
Raichur as well.

These coin-operated and fully
automatic toilets have more to them. The main door opens when a Rs. 2
coin is inserted. Upon entering it, body-sensors installed in the
toilets start their work; the main fans, exhaust fans, lights and FM
radio get switched on instantly.

After 20 minutes, an
alarm bell rings to indicate that the time is getting over. As a person
comes out, fans, lights and radio get switched off, and the machines
clean and sterilise the toilet. Each toilet has a water tank with a
capacity of 500 litres.

How then is the CMC going to
raise awareness among the people? Mallikarjun, an engineer in
Environment Department of the CMC, has a solution. “It is true that the
e-toilets had some technical problems initially and they were fixed. But
the main problem is that people are not yet used to it. The challenge
before the CMC is to make them aware of how to use them. We are planning
on building two normal toilets adjacent to these e-toilets and appoint a
caretaker. When people come to use the normal toilets, the caretaker
will show them how to use e-toilet. We have put this plan before the
Deputy Commissioner and he has responded positively,” Mr. Mallikarjun
said.

Ms. Shashikala is also interested in the
awareness programme, but not through normal toilets. “The biggest
problem with the normal toilets is keeping them clean. We should
increasingly move towards initiatives like e-toilets and make people
aware about their use,” she adds.