TIRUCHY: If you visited the city’s first smart toilet near the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital before Monday, you could have spotted the picture of a man with a moustache at the entrance, a picture that raised a storm on social media on Monday.
Some netizens claimed that the picture resembled legendary Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi. Although the designers did not place the entire face of the man, a vague resemblance to the poet stirred a controversy, compelling the authorities to remove it.
Though the authorities removed the picture by noon, the move failed to assuage the critics as they found more issues with the toilet. They pointed out that the planners forgot to place any Tamil boards in front of the facility. They claimed that people would not notice the toilet if the authorities did not fix a Tamil board.
Sources said that the corporation decided to correct the mistake by placing a Tamil board on Tuesday morning. Sources said that the authorities inaugurated this facility on Sunday evening after 6 pm ,an auspicious timing to ward off issues. But, all these efforts failed to save the smart toilet from controversies.
However, some officials said positive things about the incident. “We are open to suggestions. Some people raised some issues and we made the necessary changes. We hope the changes would quell the controversy,” a source said.