Mixed response to e-toilet facility

: There has been mixed response from women to e-toilets installed in various parts of the city two months after they were renovated or replaced. Fears of getting locked in inside the e-toilet still linger among some women, in spite of the advanced technology that has been used to ensure the safety of users.

“We are getting some good response from Kozhikode. An average of 80 people use each toilet on a daily basis, while in places like Medical College, it is around 150,” said Anwar Sadath, CEO of Eram Scientific Solutions, the sole manufacturers of e-toilets in the country.

The e-toilets, which were first set up in 15 locations in Kozhikode, had become unpopular after the equipment were damaged due to disuse. Lack of water, the location of the e-toilets and stigma attached to using the facility were the main reasons for their disuse.

However, under an initiative of the newly inducted Corporation council, the manufacturers replaced some of the faulty equipment and renovated a few toilets. The intervention of the Ombudsman for local bodies on the basis of a complaint by a women’s organisation, Sthree Chethana, about the condition of the toilets had served as a catalyst in the process.

Now that the equipment is in place, it is up to the women to put it to good use. “The time for awareness creation is long past. Women need to overcome the stigma,” said Anwar Sadath.

However, a sitting of the Ombudsman on March 29, 2016 had instructed Sthree Chethana to take up awareness campaigns to popularise the e-toilets and has directed the Kozhikode Corporation as well as Eram Scientific Solutions to be part of it.

Claim contested

Sthree Chethana has contested the claim by the manufacturers that all 15 e-toilets are in working condition. “Seven are still in unusable condition,” said secretary of Sthree Chethana K.S. Jayasree, who had spearheaded the campaign for public toilets for women in Kozhikode back in 2010. But the company maintained that none of the e-toilets would be out of order for more than three hours, as the GPS enabled system would alert the authorities about the need for maintenance.

Sthree Chethana is now planning to take out a campaign involving school and college students as well as Kudumbasree workers to create awareness on the use of e-toilets by mid-May.