Rajkot: Smart toilets designed for public sanitation in urban India have one serious hiccup — extra smart users! At the root of the mess are these untrained, street smart people who have caused huge problems for the civic body and left the system almost in limbo.
Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) has created three such smart toilets in the city — at Trikon Baugand two for women in Racecourse. However, the civic body is now in a dilemma as people tamper with the coin box outside these toilets, resulting in the failure of the entire system and often ending up in the user getting locked up inside the loo!
A coin of any denomination has to be inserted in the coin box located outside the toilet which will automatically open the door and switch on the lights too. Based on artificial intelligence, these toilets maintain cleanliness and hygiene automatically through sensors after every use. The doors too get automatically locked once the user comes outside.
RMC’s idea was to create a public sanitation system that would save water and maintain hygiene and would match the image of a smart city. But, in reality, it turned out to be a headache. “People often tamper with the coin box in their attempt to open the door without using a coin! This paralyzes the entire system and the toilet goes out of order,” environment engineer Nilesh Parmar told TOI.
According to Parmar, Rajkot has no vendor who can repair the system and so, technicians from Ahmedabad have to be summoned who charge around Rs 70,000 for one time.
According to the officials, the ladies’ toilet is the worst afflicted in this case as the users do not allow the door to close automatically after one use and another enters which leads the entire system to malfunction. This has also led many users to get locked inside and had to be rescued after calling up on RMC’s helpline.
Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) has created three such smart toilets in the city — at Trikon Baugand two for women in Racecourse. However, the civic body is now in a dilemma as people tamper with the coin box outside these toilets, resulting in the failure of the entire system and often ending up in the user getting locked up inside the loo!
A coin of any denomination has to be inserted in the coin box located outside the toilet which will automatically open the door and switch on the lights too. Based on artificial intelligence, these toilets maintain cleanliness and hygiene automatically through sensors after every use. The doors too get automatically locked once the user comes outside.
RMC’s idea was to create a public sanitation system that would save water and maintain hygiene and would match the image of a smart city. But, in reality, it turned out to be a headache. “People often tamper with the coin box in their attempt to open the door without using a coin! This paralyzes the entire system and the toilet goes out of order,” environment engineer Nilesh Parmar told TOI.
According to Parmar, Rajkot has no vendor who can repair the system and so, technicians from Ahmedabad have to be summoned who charge around Rs 70,000 for one time.
According to the officials, the ladies’ toilet is the worst afflicted in this case as the users do not allow the door to close automatically after one use and another enters which leads the entire system to malfunction. This has also led many users to get locked inside and had to be rescued after calling up on RMC’s helpline.