When You Got To Go, NOW You Can Go! E-Toilets Open in City

By
Alfie Dsouza, Team Mangalorean.
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When You Got To Go, NOW You Can Go! E-Toilets Open in City

Mangaluru: Definitely as the saying goes, ” When you got to go, You got to go!”- It means you have to go to the toilet really bad. And that was in my case this morning- I got a call that I should cover the e-Toilet inauguration near Lalbagh at 11 am- so I rushed, even though my bladder was full- and I needed to pee real bad. Keeping e-Toilet in mind, I reached the Lalbagh location in time, so I can be the first client to use the facility-but found out that the inauguration was at 11.30 am. OMG- what should I do? Anyways I thought to my self, that I could control my bladder for half an hour. But unfortunately, MLA JR Lobo, MCC Mayor Kavitha Sanil, Former Mayor Sashidhar Hegde and other VIP’s didn’t show until 12 noon- I started cursing everyone, while managing to hold on to my piss?

Finally the much awaited e-toilets are here- and five of them opened today, 11 July at Lalbagh (two of them); at Kadri park (two) and one at Mangalore Central Railway Station Road (Near to University Evening College)-Mangaluru. So it was time to say goodbye to those stinky and filthy ‘Sulabh Sauchalaya’ toilets, and welcome the e-Toilets! Suppose to be the first-ever e-Toilets in Dakshina Kannada district were inaugurated by MLA J R Lobo , Mayor Kavita Sanil, along with MCC Deputy Mayor Rajaneesh, MCC Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer, Former Mayor Sashidhar Hegde, M Vasanta Rao- Chief Regional Manager, HPCL-Mangaluru Retail Region, Sree Kumar G- Senior Regional Manager of Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd, among other MCC Officials and corporators, on Tuesday July 11 near the Lalbagh Bus Stand, Mangaluru. These five e-toilets are built by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) for Mangaluru City Corporation.

The public sector oil company, HPCL has built these e-toilets under its corporate social responsibility. The ready to use four e-toilets have been provided with water, electricity facility and linked to the sewage network. It is learnt that HPCL has spent Rs 30 lakh on this project, each e-toilet costing Rs 6 lakh. Users have to have insert coin/coins in the slot before entering the toilet. The toilet will be fully automated and will flush automatically before and after use. These toilets by Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) will provide access to ultra-clean, environment-friendly toilets.

MLA J R Lobo addressing the gathering after the inauguration said, “For a smart City like Mangaluru, having these kind of e-toilets is an Smart initiative by MCC. I extend my heartfelt compliments the the Mayor and her MCC officials for introducing such e-toilets in Mangaluru. Bengaluru has seen these toilets fie years ago, and they have received ery good response from everyone. We need to appreciate the help from HPCL for donating these 5 E-toilets to MCC. Such kind of high-tech toilets is needed very much in a Smart city-Mangaluru. Citizens should not abuse these e-toilets, and try to maintain cleanliness”.

Mayor Kavita Sanil said, “Citizens should appreciate MCC for this e-Toilet initiative. With technology not been able to change the mindset of people towards garbage segregation, this tech will change the toilet experience for the public. Mangaluru being a Smart City, and by introducing these first-of-its-kind e-toilets around here, we are getting more smarter. We are showing a sign of advancement by these E-toilets, which will benefit the citizens a lot, when they need to use a toilet facility. These e-toilets are very easy to use and moreover, it is hygienic and eco-friendly. I am thankful to HPCL for joining with MCC in this project and look forward for their support in constructing few more toilets in the City”.

After the inauguration of all the five e-toilets in the City, there was a formal function of handing over of MoU between HPCL and MCC held at the MCC Meeting Hall. Members seated on the dais during the programme were- MCC Mayor Kavitha Sanil; MCC Deputy Mayor Rajaneesh; MCC Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer; M Vasanta Rao- Chief Regional Manager, HPCL-Mangaluru Retail Region; Rajiv Hagargi-HPCL Chief Installation Manager, Mangaluru Sector; Former Mayor Sashidhar Hegde; MCC Corporators-Sabitha Misquith, Prathiba Kulai and Nagaveni.

After the exchange of MoU between MCC and HPCL represented by Mayor for MCC and Vasanta Rao for HPCL. Mayor Kaitha, Deputy Mayor Rajaneesh, Corporator Nagaveni, Former Mayor Sashidhar Hegde spoke and thanked HPCL for their support, and were also overwhelmed for this unique project undertaken by MCC. Vasanta Rao of HPCL addressing the gathering said that HPCL feels proud to be associated with MCC with such kind of useful projects which benefit the citizens, and that HPCL will continue to be associated with MCC in future projects. The programme was compered by MCC environmental engineer Madhu Manohar.

Vasanta Rao- Chief Regional Manager, HPCL-Mangaluru Retail Region speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” We have sponsored such e-toilets in few other cities, and we are happy that such kind of e-toilets are introduced in Mangaluru. As of now as per our CSR project we have donated five e-toilets to Mangaluru, and from today onwards MCC is responsible to maintain these toilets. In future if everything goes well, HPCL may donate regular kind of toilets if the proposal is put forth by MCC. We want to be associated with MCC in future too, and HPCL feels proud of Smart City-Mangaluru”.

Sree Kumar G- Senior Regional Manager of Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “Each of these toilets are provided with tanks that can hold water up to 300 litres. After ten persons use the toilet, the toilet automatically gets cleaned. The toilet uses 1.5 litres of water if people use it for up to three minutes, and 4.5 litres if the time taken is over three minutes. Anyone wanting to use the e-toilet facility could enter it by inserting Re 1 coin and also coins of other denomination. The unmanned toilet has automatic flushing and sanitizing facility. When a user enters the e-toilet, lights and the exhaust fan will switch on automatically and go off once the user leaves the toilet. Hand wash facility is also available inside it.

“The toilets have GPS connection and hence in case of any problems, the central office of the company get information, after which engineers will be dispatched to attend to the problem. Each of these toilets cost Rs 6.25 lac, and have been built under the sponsorship of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd under the corporate social responsibility fund. As these toilets are portable, they can be easily shifted elsewhere depending on the need. In Bengaluru we have set up 238 e-toilets and the response has been great. We also have set up these e-toilets in 19 states, totaling around 3200.” added Kumar.

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