ONGOLE: Conventional public toilets have long been in disuse owing to improper maintenance in the town like elsewhere in the country.
It is no longer so with the Ongole Municipal Corporation installing for four eToilets in the busy junctions in the ever-expanding town for the convenience of the public on the move.
People can use these toilets free of cost, said Municipal Commissioner S. Venkatakrishna, who was busy creating awareness among the vendors and shoppers in the New Market centre here.
The eToilets are programmed to turn on the lights and fan when a user enters, flush 1.5 litres of water after the first three minutes, and 4.5 litres after a little longer and clean the floor after every 10 users. Each of the new generation toilets costs ₹ 7 lakh each, he said.
These toilets with electrical, mechanical and web-mobile technologies, need no manual supervision, he says, adding the eToilets feature automatic pre-flush and after-flush, automatic platform cleaning, and LED indications and have GPRS-enabled remote monitoring capabilities for online tracking of entry and usage of every user.
The pre-fabricated modular public toilets, made of stainless steel and manufactured by Thiruvananthapuram-based Eram Scientific Solutions, have helped wean away people from obnoxious practice of open defecation, he says, adding the 10 CCTV cameras already installed in different parts of the city had proved to be a deterrent.
These initiatives will help the civic body, formed in 1876, to come within the 50 ranks in the Swachh Survekshan of 500 cities, he expresses confidence after a feedback on a Central team which visited the city earlier this week.
