Open the restroom door (the toilet is adjacent) of the Smart She-toilet near the animal hospital on the city zoo premises and an odour hits you, the result of the restroom being used by visitors to relieve themselves.
Zoo staff attest to this being a fact. “Entry to the restroom is free and people think it is okay to have children relieve themselves inside. On the other hand, to enter the adjacent toilet, one needs to pay.”
The restroom, as the name indicates, is for women to get off their feet during the long walk through the zoo, breastfeed their babies and change their diapers. However, the facility is clearly being misused, as confirmed by Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd., manufacturers of the Smart She-toilet.
Clogged with sand
In fact, misuse of toilets is a regular problem. At Shanghumughom, the washbasin of the e-toilet gets clogged with sand regularly.
“People wash sand off themselves and their footwear in the washbasin. Cleaners have to be sent there regularly to resolve the problem,” says Nima Rajeev, Deputy Manager (Operations) at Eram.
The civic sense of the public is something that leaves Eram and its clients very unhappy. Though vandalism has gone down over the years since the e-toilets were first installed in the city in 2013, the civic sense has not improved much.
Eram officials say they do not encounter many issues with the toilets installed at the domestic and international airports or Technopark, but it is a different story when it comes to toilets that are in a more public area.
Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation has 26 She-toilets, all sourced from Eram, at places such as Government College for Women to the Karyavattom campus to the Regional Cancer Centre. In all these facilities, lack of hygiene is a problem.
A close look at the She-toilet near the Museum police station reveals that someone has left the health faucet on the floor beside the toilet bowl and the platform muddy. In the adjacent She-toilet, something indistinguishable has been dumped inside the bowl, and near the platform.
Dirty toilets are, in fact, an oft repeated story. Though cinemas and other establishments have installed toilets with stalls, their condition causes many a woman to do a double take. Wet floors, soiled toilet seats, toilets clogged with sanitary napkins…the list is unseemly. Rather than use such facilities, many prefer not to take a leak.
Indian or Western?
Women take issue with the decision to install Western closets rather than Indian ones in such facilities. “Why bother installing Western closets that people are not familiar with?” asks a homemaker.
In the case of e-toilets, the decision to have Indian or Western closets rests with the clients, says Eram. They, however, admit that the Indian closets seem to have more takers among the public.
KSWDC managing director Bindu V.C. says all their She-toilets have Indian closets.
She says that in some locations, the She-toilets are being used by men too. “The toilets come with logos, but people think it if fine to use whatever facility is available. Women then stay away from these toilets.”