Guwahati: The North East region’s first e-toilets have been installed at Maligaon area of Assam’s Guwahati.
The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) installed two Electronic Public Toilets, one each for male and female, at Maligaon on Sunday.
State PHE Minister Sukur Ali Ahmed, Guwahati Mayor Abir Patra, actress Zerifa Wahid, and Commissioner of GMC S Viswanathan were present at the launch.
The Unmanned Self-Cleaning, Sleek and Modular, SMART eToilets have been installed for the first time to compliment the cosmopolitan ambiance of the city. eToilets have simple user interfaces and provide clean and hygienic sanitation facilities to the public users.
The automated public toilet unit, e-Toilets, developed by Kerala-based Eram Scientific Solutions (ESS), has a facility of pre-flushing before entering, automatic flushing once usage is done, in-built water tanks, sensors for water and electricity conservation, automatic platform cleaning and power back-up.
The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has installed the e-toliets in Public Private Partnership model with Outreach Advertising where the maintenance of toilets would be responsibility of the private firm.
The agency would recover maintenance costs through user charges and advertisement display, which shall ensures sustainability of operations. ESS has installed over 650 eToilets in 51 cities in the country so far.
E-Toilet has received over 35 national and international awards including collaborations with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation award. It recently won the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge (RTTC) India Award instituted by BIRAC, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India for developing cost effective toilets for slums and communities. (UNI)
