Chennai’s She Toilets instill hope for women and public service workers

Seventy-year-old Kamala Markandan was out shopping, last week, with her daughter on Usman Road in T Nagar, a major retail hub in Chennai, when she saw a pink bus titled ‘She Toilet’, at the bustling Saravana Stores junction. 

As someone who needs to go to the toilet frequently owing to her age, Markandan was quite happy with the mobile toilet, introduced by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). 

“It’s clean, has water, soap, and smells fresh,” she said. 

The bus stationed in Zone 10, under which the neighbourhood of T. Nagar falls, is the first of the mobile toilets for women launched by the GCC. 

“I’ve been a resident of T. Nagar for the last ten years, and coming to this part of the neighbourhood in the evenings is a common ritual for me and my grandchildren. But the public toilet near the bus terminus has never been usable,” said Markandan. 

Last month, Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration, K N Nehru, had flagged off 15 She Toilets for 15 zones in the city. As of October 5, six buses had been sent out, covering three zones.

Each She Toilet has four cubicles—three in Indian style and one in Western style. A common wash basin has been built in between the cubicles. An LED screen on the outer wall of the bus will soon play sensitisation videos on healthcare, hygiene and responsible waste segregation. 

The mobile toilets also have a tank to collect the sewage, which is then pumped into Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s pumping stations across the city.  

A facility to sell sanitary and hygiene products is in the works. 

On the flip side, although the bus has entrances on both sides, it is not easy to use for people with locomotor disabilities. 

“In the coming months, we will see if we can attach ramps to the buses to make them inclusive,” said N Mahesan, Chief Engineer (SWM and Mechanical), GCC, although he did not commit to incorporating additional facilities to make the buses disabled-friendly.

Mahesan said transwomen could also use the toilets. 

In 2019, the GCC floated tenders to introduce 150 She Toilets, under the Nirbhaya Scheme, at important commercial, high-footfall areas and near educational institutes, as mapped out by the civic body through Geographic Information Mapping. 

According to GCC, the first 15 mobile She Toilets have been procured at a cost of Rs 4.37 crore. 

“Based on our observation of the usage of these buses over the next six months, we will plan any additional procurement of these buses,” said Mahesan.

Each She Toilet requires 1,000 litres of water for the tank to be full. Although some staff from GCC mentioned that they are in talks with Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board for water supply to the She Toilets, Mahesan said water from GCC’s borewells should suffice. 

“The buses have all the amenities needed, and we see them becoming popular among the public,” he said.

Challenges and concerns

Under Swachh Survekshan—the Government of India’s annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in villages, cities and towns across India–Chennai ranked 44th last year. Among the 13 states with 100 local bodies, Tamil Nadu stood last. 

Apart from cleanliness and sanitation, open defecation and unhygienic working conditions for sanitation workers are also huge concerns in the city. 

While GCC has promised more toilets in Chennai, currently the city has toilets in less than 1,000 locations, many of which have been flagged several times, by users and the media, for being unusable and unhygienic and lacking water. 

The GCC has applied for a three-star rating under Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0, which looks at sanitation infrastructure and citizens’ perception of cleanliness, among other parameters. 

Will the She Toilets help the city in its bit to improve its sanitation and cleanliness perception? 

For the initiative to succeed, it is critical for the mobile toilets to deliver what they promise: safety, hygiene, and good sanitation for women—factors that have often taken a backseat in the city. 

Sathiyapriya, a head constable posted in Chennai, says long hours of duty with no usable public toilets have impacted her health over the years. 

“We leave home at 9 am and return only at night. We hesitate to ask people who live close by if we could use their toilets. I hope these mobile toilets are a successful initiative, especially for women in public service who have to be out for long periods of time,” she says.

In the past, GCC had set up e-toilets and rental toilets in the city. But users lost faith in them as many of the toilets became unusable over time, due to lack of water supply, broken taps and doors, and open defecation around the area. 

The city of Hyderabad too had installed She Toilet units in 2017, but many of the units became defunct due to lack of maintenance.  

“Women anywhere in the country are dissuaded from using public toilets because they feel they will be dirty and unhygienic. This especially impacts women who have to be on the road for long hours, homeless women, vendors and others,” remarks S Damodaran, CEO and Chairperson of Gramalaya, a Trichy-based NGO working on water, sanitation, and hygiene for vulnerable communities.

While cleaning toilets at timely intervals, adequate water and security are the basic requirements, it is also important for the toilets to be “period-friendly”, with disposable bins for used menstrual pads, privacy, and enough cloth hangers, suggests Damodaran. 

“The She Toilets initiative could consider including these facilities in the near future,” he adds.