INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:

Kathmandu, November 19 Kathmandu Metropolitan City has prepared 20 designs of public toilets to be constructed within the capital

city. Speaking at a programme organised to mark the seventh World Toilet Day-2019 in Kathmandu today, Vice-chairperson of the KMC Urban

Planning Commission Saroj Basent said any of the designs could be used for the construction of public toilets depending on location, budget

available and requirement. The designs allow one to three persons to answer the nature call at a time

They also envision attached bathroom, accessible for all

Construction of public toilets designed by KMC costs between Rs 1.5 million to Rs 10 million. Objective of the celebration was to inspire

action to tackle global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal-6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030

Poor sanitation in existing public toilets in urban areas have deprived people of toilet facility

Currently, the metropolis has 62 public toilets, out of which only 28 are usable while the rest are in need of repair. Member-secretary of

the National Sanitation and Coordination Committee Devendra Jha warned that an average of 14,000 children below five years of age had been

dying every year due to lack of proper sanitation in Nepal. &The need of urban areas like Kathmandu is inclusive and accessible public

toilets, which can be used by mobile population,& he said

Country Director of WaterAid Nepal Tripti Rai stressed the need to build safe and women-friendly public toilets. Former environment minister

Ganesh Shah suggested that fecal sludge management would be more important for environment cleanliness after construction of public toilets

KMC had also organised a rally to mark the day, this morning

Various organisations participated in the programme. A study jointly conducted by KMC, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Kirtipur Municipality and

Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in March revealed that public toilets in Kathmandu were not clean, lacked access to adequate water, had poor

infrastructure and did not meet the need of women and people with disabilities. There was approximately only one public toilet for every

64,000 residents in the valley, according to the study report. The post KMC develops 20 designs for public toilets appeared first on The

Himalayan Times.