Telangana now has surplus public toilet seats

State has 8,966 toilet seats in different ULBs excluding GHMC against the required 7,683 seats

Hyderabad: Telangana is one among the very few States in the country which has more public toilet seats than the required norms. As per norms, there has to be a provision of one toilet seat for every 1,000 persons, and in case of Telangana it works out to a requirement of 7,683 toilet seats.

Against this requirement, the State has now provided 8,966 toilet seats in different Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) excluding Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). In addition to these, 70 more toilet seats are being planned. Striking aspect here is majority of these toilets have been constructed under the Pattana Pragathi programme. Till March, 2020 there were about 4,800 toilet seats in different ULBs in the State and under Pattana Pragathi prorgamme, a whopping 4,162 toilet seats have been constructed.

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Following Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s directions, emphasis was laid on construction of more facilities for the convenience of women. “Not many States have sufficient toilets for the convenience of women. Telangana is one of those very few States, which have nearly 50 per cent of total toilets for women,” said a senior official.

About 15 per cent of the existing toilet seats were constructed involving private agencies and rest have been constructed by the government. While, private agencies constructed toilets at commercial areas, others were set up at public places, depending on the demand and pedestrian traffic. But officials had to face a few challenges in constructing the facilities, as there was opposition from local residents. At most locations, local people wanted the toilets to be constructed far from their neighbourhoods.

As a means to create awareness among people, construction of toilets was commenced from different government office premises and at other public places, said the official.

Award for PPTM system

Not merely confining to setting up of public toilets, top priority is being accorded to operation and maintenance of the facilities. Accordingly, the Municipal Administration department introduced the online Pattana Pragathi Toilet Monitoring System (PPTMS) to regularly track the maintenance. Apart from those constructed by private agencies, operation and maintenance of toilets set up by the government had been entrusted to 165 agencies, including Self-help groups and Slum Level Federations.

Under the PPTMS, the government will track the operation and maintenance through 18 different parameters, including Covid -19 guidelines. These include spraying of disinfectants, cleaning the premises with phenyl, provision of water and others. Armed with smart phones or tabs, SHGs or SLFs representatives visit the public toilets twice a week.

They have to check all the parameters and post pictures accordingly. The same will be monitored through dashboard and action will be initiated immediately, if there is any lethargy in maintenance, said Commissioner and Director Municipal Administration (CDMA) N Satyanarayana.

The PPTMS was selected for the Digital Technology Sabha Awards 2021 under the Enterprise Applications category. The award was received by the CDMA virtually during a programme on Thursday.

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