Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has been re-certified as an open defecation free-city, after due field inspections were taken up by third-party consultants, on October 26.
According to senior officials of the civic body, open urination is an area of concern in every city. It is not just about the provision of toilets but it is the maintenance that assumes primacy. Unless, the toilets are neat and tidy, people are reluctant to use them.
The GHMC is operating several categories of toilet across the city — BOT (Built Operate Transfer), pre-fabricated toilets, Sulabh complexes and SHE toilets (e-toilets). GHMC has convinced around 259 fuel stations and 280 restaurants in the city to give access to their toilets for public use, free of cost.
In a bid to promote the use of public toilets, the GHMC has also come up with Loo cafes, which are equipped with ATM facilities. It has also decided to set up 178 integrated smart washrooms (toilets) free of cost across the city. The corporation has invited tenders to take up the project on a build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. To tackle the large burden of untreated fecal waste, the water board has established 18 fecal sludge and septage plants across the city.
