Money Down the Toilet? ‘e-Toilets’ (electronic/eco toilets) Gone ‘e-Waste’ (economically Waste?), with ALL of them ‘Out of Order’, within three years! And the best part is that these e-toilets are managed and operated by Mangaluru City Corporation-THAT FIGURES? So what good is it to spend Rs 6 lakh on each of these e-Toilets, which are non-functional now- the same amount spent on these e-Toilets could have been used to build regular toilets (with attendants in charge), and many commuters would have used the facilities without any hesitance.
Mangaluru : 11 July 2017 was a day that history was made in Mangaluru and big noise was made in various media/publication about the introduction of ‘e-Toilet’ -India’s first unmanned Electronic Public Toilet, which is portable, eco-friendly and hygienically maintained with a GPRS-enabled system, monitoring the toilet remotely. Eram Scientific Solutions who are the people behind this e-Toilet had named this e-toilet ‘Delight’. Okay, that was good news for Kudla, and everyone welcomed these five-six new e-Toilets in Mangaluru with great delight and enthusiasm, joined by MCC Mayor, other MCC Officials, MLA JR Lobo, HPCL honchos, representatives of Eram Scientific Solutions, VIP’s and media personnel. (Ref:When You Got To Go, NOW You Can Go! E-Toilets Open in City )
But sadly after three years, as of today, 24 August 2020 none of these e-toilets installed in the City work. Even though the coastal city and educational hub made an attempt at a hi-tech solution to an age-old problem, the introduction of these e-toilets– which are fully automated and even equipped with GPS to prevent misuse, seems like the project didn’t work for long. The E-toilet was conceived with an aim to address the issues associated with traditional public toilets– namely, non availability of water, power, manpower, lack of maintenance and sustainability. (Ref:‘e-Toilets’ Gone ‘e-Waste’! Two Out of Five Not Working Within One Month? ). The serious dearth of personnel was another important pain-point, often hindering sustained service to the users. Moreover, public toilets that are constructed with government funds are closed within a short time, due to lack of a sustainable income model. But unfortunately, it seems like the e-Toilet facilities didn’t click either.
And with signs on these e-toilets urging citizens to keep the surrounding clean, it has gone for a toss, where piles of garbage, filth is seen around these e-toilets. And many times you can see men peeing right behind these e-Toilets. One thing for sure, people want everything free. It is difficult to make people understand the importance of an e-Toilet. They are so used to the idea of a mop and a cleaning lady, and are used to the regular kind of toilets. They are not accustomed towards such kind of fancy toilets, where you have to insert coins etc etc. Another challenge MCC had flunked was in not finding appropriate locations to install these e-Toilets. These e- toilets should have been easily accessible and at places where it is very much desperately needed. (Ref: Not Smart! Building a E-Toilet First, and then Finding NO Sewage Link? )
It’s true that these e-toilets had quite a few options, options to use less amount of water and a sensor-enabled system to conserve water and electricity usage. In spite of all this, interrupted supply of electricity and water often affect their smooth functioning. And that’s what has happened now to these e-toilets here. All of them have stopped working, everything is in shambles. Looks like money flushed down the toilet? What Mangaluru needs in future is simple and regular toilets which could be accessible by every common man, and not just the rich and highly educated who have the time to insert money and play all the games.
Ever since these e-toilets were set up in Mangaluru, there had been no awareness about them. Many didn’t even know what these blue kiosks are for. The foremost challenge was to make people understand the e-toilet, which wasn’t done by the MCC nor the e-toilet company. Since this e- toilet is completely automated, technology phobia was evident in the early stages of the initiative, but unless these e-toilet don’t receive much media hype and government support, the initial reluctance had turned to just curiosity.
Many people didn’t know how to use these e-toilets, since they have been used to regular toilets or have been going for nature’s call in open air. When most people avoid using public toilets due to their bad conditions, this technology should have changed the scenario of public sanitation here, but it never happened, as we see now. e-Toilets alone cannot fix the sanitation problem, but authorities should come up with a better system to handle the sanitation issue. The other point is that no one wants to dirty their hands. -this field is often looked down by people and no one wants to work extensively here. Someone who wants to do a similar project needs to be passionate about what he/she is doing.
It’s true, that lack of toilets has resulted in defecation in open places, which has created a major sanitary problem. With increased awareness among the people, the government and a number of organizations should come up with public urinals and toilets in various areas. However, most of these public toilets have not been able to live up to the hygienic standards required in a urinal. Most of these toilets remain out of use. People also hesitate to use these toilets because these are very dirty and unhygienic. Hence, new and innovative solutions are required for the betterment of these public toilets.
Installation of these e-toilets was indeed an effective step towards the creation of urban sanitation infrastructure to create a better quality of life for citizens and tourists. The basic concept of e-toilet offered a full cycle approach in creating sustainable sanitation by combining mechanical, electronics and web-mobile technologies for remote monitoring of the entry, usage, exit, cleaning and sterilization. The portable e-toilets also generated revenue. But sadly, due to negligence and carelessness of MCC, these e-toilets remain unused. In future, to cater to the toilet needs of the public, I think the ‘common toilet’ will surely benefit the ‘common man’.
