Hyderabad: Municipal Administration Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar, along with GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar today examined various types of toilets in an exhibition on the MA&UD campus in the city.
The exhibition was organized by a Mumbai-based organization to sensitize the zonal commissioners and engineers of the GHMC about various types of public toilet designs available which can be built in the city. It may be recalled that during a recent review meeting, Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao had asked the GHMC engineers to build 3,000 toilets in the city. Some 10 types of public toilets for the cities and villages that are socially sustainable and are integrated into everyday life of people are on display at the exhibition. Portable toilets, bus stop toilets, railway toilets, pavement toilets, highway toilets, urban toilets, Anganwadi toilets, community toilets, park toilets, and women-only toilets are on the display at the exhibition.
Arvind Kumar asked the Zonal Commissioners to identify suitable sites in their respective areas so as to enable the architect Kalpit Ashar to suggest the best possible model for constructing toilets. He also asked the architect to suggest the space required for constructing different types of toilets so that the GHMC officials can plan for their areas accordingly. He suggested to GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar to involve all the engineers so that the process can be expedited.
Designer Kalpit Ashar informed the Principal Secretary that the exhibition initiates a new discussion on the nature of infrastructure where they are not only problem-solving solutions but are holistic public spaces integrated into everyday lives of people. The framework sets up a pool of various parameters such as sanitation technology, recycling systems, construction method, affordability, maintenance model, operational cost, maintenance cost, and delivery model, he said. At present, similar toilets are being built in seven cities in Rajasthan, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner and Kota on 34 sites, including bus stops, bus stations, urban parks, markets, stadiums, government office complexes, hospitals, public squares, and junctions, he added.
