Kathmandu. When you say public toilet, it means a place to urinate. As soon as you enter such toilets, you may have to close your nose.

On the other hand, it is unimaginable to have different capacities (disabilities), bathing, breastfeeding rooms and sanitary pads and diaper replacement facilities in such toilets. However, these facilities are available in the state-of-the-art public toilets brought into operation near the bus stop at Chandragiri-15 Dhunge adda along the Kalanki Nagdhunga Highway from today. There is always a crowd in the border area of Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Chandragiri Municipality to enter and exit the Valley. Commuters, the general public and wallets had been facing a lot of problems due to lack of public toilets.

The ‘smart’ toilet has been constructed at a cost of about Rs 10 million in collaboration with Chandragiri Municipality, facilitation of Chandragiri-15 and Erosan Sustainable Sanitation. It will be operated and managed by the same organization.

Toilets have automatic equipment such as automatic flushes, lights, soaps, taps, separate bathrooms and breastfeeding rooms for women and sanitary pads. Environment and women-friendly toilets have come into operation for the first time in the city area.

Chandragiri Municipality Mayor Ghanashyam Giri shared that similar ‘smart’ toilets would be constructed in three other places of the municipality with the help and cooperation of Erosan Sustainable Sanitation.

Chandragiri-15 ward chair Ghanashyam Luitel said the smart toilets have been brought into operation with the support and cooperation of Erosan Sustainable Sanitation as it is the responsibility of the local government to provide toilet facilities in places where there is a lot of perception. “Toilets will be constructed using the areas where the public has been dumping garbage and a green park will be built outside the area occupied by it,” he said. ’

Archana Shrestha, programme officer of Erosan Sustainable Sanitation, said that the target is to collect biogas plants and sky water to manage the solid and liquids released from the toilets at source to make the toilet environment-friendly.

The ‘smart’ toilet has been brought into operation as per the concept of late Prakash Chandra Amatya, the architect of ‘Smart’ public toilets in Nepal. He is also the founder president of Essocan Nepal.

Erosan Sustainable Sanitation in collaboration with Kathmandu and Lalitpur Metropolitan City has been constructing and operating new ‘smart’ toilets with bathrooms in different parts of these cities.