Hyderabad got its first-ever electronic toilets (eToilets). Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) launched two she-toilets (eToilets tailor-made for women) in Charminar on Friday.
GHMC Commissioner Dr.Janardhan Reddy, Mayor Bontu Rammohan, and MLA Pasha Khadri were present during the inauguration.
A total of five units have been installed of which two were inaugurated on Friday. The corporation is planning to set up about 26 eToilets at several historical places including Golconda during phase I.
Electronic toilets – manufactured by Trivandrum-based Eram Scientific Solutions – are modular, pre-fabricated public toilets integrated with user-friendly interfaces to ensure cleanliness and hygiene. She-toilets are additionally equipped with napkin vending machines and incinerators to dispose the used napkins.
The eToilets are incorporated with a full-cycle approach in sustainable sanitation by integrating electrical, mechanical and web-mobile technologies which control the entry, usage, cleaning with remote monitoring capabilities.
The unmanned and automated eToilets feature self-cleaning mechanism, which do away with the need for any manual supervision or regular upkeep. 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. They 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 ten users.
The eToilets have been sponsored by State Bank of Hyderabad, Indian Oil Corporation, Telangana Apex Co-operative Bank, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences and several other corporate companies under CSR.
“The corporation will install as many as 26 e-toilets during phase Iin historical places which will be beneficial for the visiting tourists. The eToilets will be power-efficient as they will consume less water. They have coin-operated entry, and onsite waste treatment using anaerobic bio-degradation. The eToilets are not only smart but are well suited at a time traditional toilet infrastructures are in such terrible conditions. Such intelligent and smart solutions can solve the sanitation challenges in a major way. Also, the corporation will generate revenue through advertisements from the eToilets,” said GHMC commissioner B Janardhan Reddy.
“We are pleased to make our entry into Hyderabad with the launch of the eToilets in front of the historic Charminar. We hope that these eToilets exclusively for women would provide a sustainable sanitation facility for the women in the city. These eToilets are equipped with Napkin Vending machine and Napkin Incinerator for the benefit of women. We are thankful to the GHMC authorities for providing us all the support for carrying out the fastest installation. We also look forward to working with other municipal corporations in future to give a leg-up to the ambitious Swachh Bharat campaign,” said Dr Siddeek Ahmed, Chairman & Managing Director of Director of Eram Group.