The Kozhikode Corporation is planning to shift the e-toilet located at the lorry stand to another area. The corporation council took this decision recently as the toilet was being repeatedly damaged by anti-social elements.
“We have repaired that e-toilet any number of times. But they keep shoving bottles and other hard materials and blocking it. When it is out of order most of the time, there is no purpose keeping it there”, said corporation health officer R.S. Gopakumar.
The initial plan of the corporation was to shift the toilet to the newly renovated South Beach where it would be useful to more people. However, Dr. Gopakumar said that many locations, including Meenchanda, were being considered for the relocation. South Beach did not need more toilets as two new ones had come up there as part of the renovation process, he said.
Meanwhile, the corporation has renewed its annual maintenance contract for the e-toilets with Eram Scientific Solutions, the firm that manufactured and introduced them to Kozhikode, as the seven-year maintenance contract expired recently. The contract amount is ₹56,500 for a year.
15 e-toilets in city
There are 15 e-toilets across the city, most of which were installed in 2010. Some were relocated a few years ago to locations they were more needed, including the one in Devagiri which was shifted to the Medical College premises.
Many e-toilets were out of service for a long period in these eight years. The Kozhikode Corporation and the manufacturers drew flak from the State Human Rights Commission for not maintaining them properly. The manufacturers blamed the corporation for not providing the background facilities, including water, to ensure the smooth running of the e-toilets.
However, all the e-toilets except the one in the lorry stand are in working condition at present. “We have done whatever is possible to ensure proper water connectivity to the e-toilets”, Dr. Gopakumar said.