By M. Jacob Abraham*
Kerala's own electronic toilets (e-toilets),
one of the prominent innovations of the state in public health, hygiene and
sanitation sector, would now be seen featured at the scenic an snow covered
valleys of Jammu and Kashmir also.
Developed by Eram Scientific Solutions, the
Thiruvananthapuram based scientific R&D firm, the e-toilets for Jammu &
Kashmir region has been customized as per the region's own geographical and
sub-zero climatic conditions in response to J&Ks tourism departments
request for setting up e-Toilets in the State. The e-Toilets would be set up at
Affarwat and Gulmarg. Affarwat is one of
the world's highest locations which uses cable car using gondolas at a height
of over 4000 ft above sea level and the only one location in the world that
takes skiers to a height of 4,390 metres.
In addition to the e-toilets, specifically
designed STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants) would also be set up at Dal Lake Jammu and Kashmir
The e-toilets are designed on the lines of
the Australian National Public Toilet Map.
The user, could view the toilet map via the Internet or the cell phone,
select the nearest toilet station, set a parking space, make payment, view the
timings and get other details on allied facilities.
The company has entered into an association
with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
The collaborative work will focus on
structural analysis and design verification of these toilets.
Need for a
Sustainable Intervention in Sanitation sector
Urban and Semi Urban areas -These areas face
severe problems with respect to standard public toilets, cleanliness and better
sanitation amenities in particular. The cities and towns being overpopulated
pose severe health hazards arising due to unhygienic conventional sanitation
methods being followed in these areas. The introduction of the proposed
sanitation system would radically change the plight of the existing toilets and
public sanitation system in place.
Social Relevance - Unhygienic sanitation
cause infection and related diseases especially in women and children. The
level of privacy, dignity and safety for women can be rendered in the best
possible manner by installing Electronic Public Toilets in all possible public
locations.
Unhygienic Tourist Spots - Tourism is also
facing the ill-effects of the deplorable sanitation conditions in the country.
Several tourist spots and connecting roads are a pity to the country and are
causing discomfort for the tourists. Chances of getting infected with severe
communicable diseases in the Indian streets do create doubts for the tourists
in choosing it as their destination.
eToilet, India
Through this unique product, the company has
attempted to address the inherent challenges of public sanitation. In a perfect
situation, a public toilet should have the capabilities to address waste
management, effective water usage and sustainability as core challenges among
various other issues. eToilet is positioned as the perfect solution which
addresses all these effectively; it is cost effective, appropriate and suitable
for the geographic and demographic patterns of any location. It is working on a
mission to have all Indian Cities with modern sterilized public sanitation
system. To further improve Urban Sanitation Infrastructure, such projects with
huge social relevance are inevitable.
The Innovation
The idea was to develop an eco-friendly
public sanitation system for the Indian sub-continent based on a novel
convergence of electronic, mobile, web and bio technologies, for serving as an
affordable, sustainable and effective public toilet service in India
eToilet covers all the three aspects of
quality of life, efficiency and environment protection. eToilet is aimed at
improving the quality of life of the public; i.e. the wellness of the people by
providing clean, hygienic state-of-the-art sanitation facilities which
overrides the traditional public toilets. Though the unit is fully automated,
it does not create any kind of usage barrier to the normal user. Efficiency is
brought into practice through its unique futuristic approach woven with an
intention to preserve our precious resources such as water, electricity and
managing waste through effective and efficient sewage treatment techniques. It
is also a cost-effective mechanism to ensure proper public sanitation facility
in highly populated regions. The average life of a unit is estimated to be
around 7-10 years and thus it offers durability. Also the deployment of such
units will provide employment opportunities for many. This will help many
people to earn their livelihood. Environment is protected through eToilet’s
Green technology focus and is all set to emerge with a matchless ‘green model’
through a linkage with Indian Institute of Science.
400+ units of eToilet are installed in
various locations of our country. The commercial production of the same started
during the first quarter of 2010 to provide world class sanitation facility for
tourists. Eram has installed e-toilets
in various parts of Kerala and Greater Noida.
Another 300 is under implementation and will be operational within next
two months. Each system is used by an
average of 130 peoples per day. The
company has now entered into technology transfer agreement with South Africa and marketing arrangement with Nigeria and Botswana
High Impact
Projects
eToilet is now evolving as a sustainable
project for providing clean and hygienic urban infrastructure. Various
Government Departments in Kerala have been implementing large scale projects
for providing sustainable technology based urban sanitation projects.
Connected e-Toilets would communicate over a
GPRS system and they are accessible over a mobile or internet for locating
them. The e-Toilets can provide
information about its working status, whether for male or female, whether
changing stations for babies are available and other facilities and the
distance from the location specified can be provided.
The company has recently won a whopping
grant of over $ 4,50,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to set up
eco friendly and hygienic e-Toilets making public conveniences more accessible
to the urban poor. The prototyped
e-toilet was developed under Technopreneur promotion programme (Tepp) of Department
of Scientific and Industrial Research of Government of India by Technopark,
Thiruvananthapuram promoted by Government of Kerala. The innovation got grant
in aid from Government of India for the prototype development and after
completing the working models, this technology has been transferred to Eram
Scientific Solutions for comercialising the technology. (PIB Features.)
*Deputy Director, PIB, Thiruvananthapuram.
0 comments:
Post a Comment