Scrapped RTC buses turn swanky mobile toilets in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: To improve sanitation standards in the city, seven mobile bio-toilets were made operational on Tuesday. The TSRTC turned scrapped buses lying at bus depots into bio-toilets which are equipped with an exclusive unit for transgender, two units for women and one unit for men.

The mobile toilets will be pressed into service at places that experience high footfall and places where gatherings are held. These ‘ toilets on wheels’ run on solar energy and panels are installed on the roofs of these washrooms. The facilities also have an exclusive area marked for mothers to feed toddlers.

The washrooms also have a canteen selling snacks, serving water and aerated drinks for which a part of the bus was converted into a pantry. “The person maintaining the pantry will bear the maintenance cost of the washroom. The civic body will not spend any amount towards these washrooms,” said a GHMC official.

These washrooms do not require an exclusive sewage system attached to them as the bio-toilets decompose the waste which is later drained into a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). The washrooms were inaugurated at Necklace Road by Mayor G Vijaya Laxmi. As of date, there are 30 mobile toilets in GHMC limits and depending on the utility and demand, GHMC is planning to extend the facility to other areas. It can be recalled that GHMC was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF++) this year too after the recertification protocol introduced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.