SHE-TOILETS TO COME UP IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY

SHE-TOILETS TO COME UP IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM CITY

At a time when the absence of hygienic public toilets continues to pose major health concerns for women, the Kerala State Women's Development Corporation (KSWDC) is all set to pilot state-of-the-art electronic toilets in the capital city, exclusively for women. A first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, this project includes installation of customised e-toilets — christened ‘She-toilets'— having features such as a sanitary-napkin vending machine and an incinerator to destroy used napkins. The She-toilets will come up in 35 locations in the city by the end of April. “Electronic public toilets for women has been a long due project of the KSWDC and it has now received the nod from the State government. The pilot project will be launched in Thiruvananthapuram, which is the city having the maximum influx of women visitors from outside and also a large number of women office-goers,” a project official said here on Saturday. He added that tenders for the project would be called soon and the first batch of She-toilets are expected to be launched before the end of this month.

The automatic, un-manned, e-toilets are based on cost-effective and environment-friendly technology combining electronics and mechanical engineering and Information Technology. Apart from self-washing and sterilisation functions, the She-toilets will also have features like coin-operated mechanical sanitary-napkin vending machines that dispense napkins if coins of Rs.5 are inserted. An electrical napkin-incinerator will be attached to this unit for burning up used napkins. A baby-station to enable diaper-changing for babies is another woman-friendly feature of the She-toilets, all of which would feature ‘Indian-style' commodes.

The She-toilets will also have other e-toilet facilities such as automatic payment collection, automatic door opening, ‘busy' and `free' display boards, and an automatic platform cleaning system. Their operation can be controlled from a remote location using GPRS technology. Automatic SMS alerts will be sent to the control room in the case of emergencies such as exhaustion of water tank or filling-up of septic tank. Security features to ensure the safety of users will be yet another highlight of these portable toilets. Although the locations for setting up these toilets are yet to be finalised, priority will be given for city centres and tourist locations in the city. “Space is not really a problem as they are very compact. Already we have an understanding with the City Corporation and the Public Works Department for setting up these toilets,” the official said.

                                                         Prof. John Kurakar