Good news for travellers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Travellers, here’s some good news. More hi-tech pay-and-use lavatories are coming up in the city, with the majority to be installed on the busy Kowdiar-Kovalam stretch. Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd, which provides technical expertise and maintains the ‘e-toilets’, said 11 of the new lavatories will be installed on the Kowdiar-Kovalam route. Tourist spot Veli will get three e-toilets soon, while there are proposals to set up one each at Kovalam and Shangumugham, two of the other busy tourist spots. Commercial centres like Saphalyam complex and the Putharikandam Maidan at East Fort also will get e-toilets, Eram Scientific Solutions director Manohar Varghese said. ‘’The 11 toilets on the Kowdiar-Kovalam stretch are  funded by the District Collector’s District Innovation Fund. The toilets proposed at Saphalyam Complex and the Putharikandam Maidan are being funded from the MP’s Fund,’’ he said. Eram Scientific Solutions had recently announced that 300 more new toilets would be set up across the state this fiscal, taking the total number to 450. A Connected Toilet Infrastructure Facility is also planned, which will monitor the operations and streamline the functioning of the e-toilet project. The city has e-toilets on the Kanakakkunnu Palace grounds and Napier Museum grounds, both frequented by a large number of visitors each day. ‘’The one at Museum was the first, opened last May. On an average, we get 70-80 users daily. But there have also been days when the numbers have gone up to 200,’’ Manohar Varghese said. The toilets are set up by various agencies; for instance, the Cultural Affairs Department manages the ones at Kanakakkunnu and Museum.