THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Public rest rooms in the city are slated to get a facelift with the corporation planning to form a monitoring agency to improve the sanitary conditions of public toilets and ensure their cleanliness. Along the lines of food safety squads, a special squad of cleaning and maintenance staff will be formed. The squad will clean the toilets daily and undertake maintenance work too. Defaulting organisations which do not adhere to maintaining hygienic public toilets will be penalised.
“It has been observed that no proper cleaning is being carried out in public toilets. The viable option is to have a designated team for cleaning them. The team will not only include cleaning staff but also electricians, masons, plumbers and skilled personnel who can undertake repair works.
This will ensure that regular maintenance work is carried out,” said Mayor K Sreekumar. Moreover, heath inspectors (HIs) in every area will be conducting regular checks on the public toilets. “The responsible HI will ensure that the work has been carried out,” he said.
The cleaning squad will visit each public toilet and clean them daily. The services of the squad can be availed for a cost by private enterprises as well. Each public toilet will also display a record which will provide the time at which it was last cleaned. The health inspector who is in charge of the area will have to verify that the toilet has been cleaned.
Currently, there are 46 public toilets maintained under the civic body. Apart from these, those that are being used by the public at hospitals, theatres and bus stands will come under this. “Any toilet which is used by more than 10 persons will automatically fall under the category of public toilet. So a standard will be set regarding public toilets and other establishments will have to follow suit,” said a corporation official.
A bylaw towards the maintenance of public and mobile toilets is being formulated which will include the provision of fining defaulting public and private utilities. “We will introduce a provision to fine those enterprises which aren’t adhering to this. This will also be introduced in the bylaw,” the official added.
Records maintained
● Each public toilet will display a record which will provide the time at which it was last cleaned.
● Respective HIs will verify the cleanliness