Struggling to locate public toilets in Kerala? Switch on state tourism mobile app

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Good public toilets are one of the most important pre-requisites for the development of tourism. However, for most visitors, there is no information about the locations of these toilets in the state. Now the problem has been solved. The Kerala Tourism Department has come up with a mobile application which will help in locating a toilet.

Through the application, not just the location but also the information of the type of toilet, whether Western or Indian, can also be obtained. The photograph of the institution, whether it is a restaurant, petrol pump, a wayside amenity, museum, gallery, shopping mall or railway station can also be obtained along with the working hours and holidays of the institutions.

The link has been incorporated in the official website of Kerala Tourism https://www.keralatourism.org. The application has been developed by Invis Multimedia, the IT solution provider of Kerala Tourism. A survey team did a physical inspection of about 1,000 toilets,  of which 750 toilets were shortlisted.

The mobile application has been modelled along the lines of similar apps which are used in the US and Australia to locate toilets. The intention is to provide precise information. Some of the other mobile apps available on both Android and IOS platforms include ‘Toilet Finder’, ‘Where to Pee’, ‘Sit or Squat’. The initiative of the tourism department is aimed at improving the sanitation facilities, especially for women.
“Access to well-maintained toilets is the requirement of every tourist,” said Rani George, Tourism Secretary.

She also added that the department is also coming up with an initiative to build toilets in important tourist destinations. The application will be launched officially in this month.