Puducherry’s Beach Promenade to have high-end restrooms under Swachh Bharat Mission

The first aspirational toilet under Swachh Bharat Mission to come up near Dupleix Statue on beach promenade in Puducherry.
| Photo Credit: S.S. KUMAR

Visitors to the beach promenade will soon have access to high-end public restrooms with the decision of Pondicherry Municipality to redevelop the existing toilet block near Dupleix Statue under Centre’s ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 2.0 programme.

Categorised under the SBM programme to have aspirational toilets, once re-developed, the toilet block near the Dupleix statue will become partly air-conditioned having facilities such as touchless flushing, automatic sanitary napkin incinerators, air purification mechanism, baby diaper changing room, automatic wash basins and a small lounge. 

The civic body has now initiated steps to float a request for proposal to find a suitable developer for the project. The project estimated to cost around ₹ 66 lakh will be taken up under revenue sharing model. Users will have to pay around ₹ 100 for using the fully air-conditioned premium class restroom and ₹ 20 for non-air-conditioned economy class toilets, Commissioner of the Municipality M. Kandasamy told The Hindu.

There is also a plan to a have an AC cafeteria facing the sea on the top floor of the toilet block. The cafeteria will be constructed using removable tents as heavy constructions are not allowed close to sea, he said. The maintenance and operation work will be outsourced by giving thrust on maintaining hygiene, the official said adding that another toilet block near the Old Distillery will also be renovated. The renovated toilet will be handed over to transgender community for its management, he added.

The civic body’s efforts will come as a major relief to tourists as well for residents because of the absence of proper toilet facility near the beach area. According to a tour operator, one of the major complaints of tourists was the absence of clean toilets on the beach promenade area.

“The Municipality should speed up the project as the feedback from the tourists about absence of toilets is not encouraging. The idea to have high end restroom will be a big relief as many weekend tourists, especially youngsters find it difficult to freshen up as they arrive in the town during early morning hours,” the operator said.

He wanted the municipality to give thrust on providing a safe environment for women visiting the restroom along with cleanliness. The civic body should also put a proper mechanism in place to oversee its functioning even if the maintenance duties are outsourced, he added.