Telangana government to construct 4.5K smart loos in towns, cities

Hyderabad: State government is contemplating to construct more than 4,500 'Smart Washrooms/ Smart Toilets' under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in the urban local bodies in the State. The government proposes to have a new model of public toilet called the 'Integrated smart washroom' which not only has toilet and urinal facilities for men, women and differently abled, but also provides access to certain services like ATM, photocopying, Wi-Fi etc in the cosy environment of an attached café.

State government has estimated that for a population of 77 lakh in the 139 urban local bodies except GHMC, 7,685 public toilets would be needed but presently only 2,989 toilets are available in the State. The government has decided to take up construction of 4,696 more toilets on a war footing and make them available for the people in towns.

The Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao said that many great changes were going to come in municipalities and corporations with 'Pattana Pragathi' programme of the government. As part of this, the State government has directed the district Collectors and Municipal Commissioners to identify lands and take up construction of smart washrooms in towns for the benefit of people living in districts.

The Collectors have been asked to choose from 23 types of designs finalised by the government. He said that the government is giving top priority to the sanitation and cleanliness in towns.

The MAUD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar asked the Municipal Commissioners to select smart washroom designs based on the needs of people in towns. The officials were asked to complete 4,696 smart washrooms, She toilets, public toilets by August 15. The ULBs have been asked to call for request for proposal (RFP) from private organisations/societies/ self help groups etc for execution of the project.