Over 400 Public Toilets In Hyderabad To Become Accessible For Persons With Disability

New Delhi: For people with disability, the Universal Accessibility is critical for equal opportunity, living independently and participating fully in all aspects of life in an inclusive society. And to ensure a barrier free and conducive environment for them, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) in December 2015 launched a nation-wide Accessible India Campaign – ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan’. As part of this campaign to make public toilets universally accessible, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has now taken up the task of constructing ramps at more than 400 public toilets in the city.

The construction of ramps is aimed at making toilets accessible to persons with disabilities. We have already constructed the ramps at all the ‘Sulabh’ toilet complexes in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation official said while speaking to NDTV.

In addition to providing ramps in public toilets, the civic body is also working on putting up standardized and informative signboards to indicate the presence and usage of toilets. The corporate will also monitor the cleanliness of toilets to ensure that the facilities are hygienic enough for people to use.

Providing public toilets in establishments such as petrol pumps, malls, commercial complexes, district centers, etc. are not enough. We also have to ensure that the cleanliness and hygiene standards are maintained at all times to ensure the facilities are fit for people to use, and is also accessible to differently-abled persons as well. We are working to adapt all of the public toilets for wheel chair users and also sensitising our staff for their special needs, added the GHMC official.

The civic body is also ensuring that all public toilets are built as per the guidelines and space standards for barrier free environment for the disabled and elderly people issued by the Central Public Works Department.

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We are working to ensure that at least one seat in the public toilet facility is as per the requirement of the differently-abled person and comes with a provision of a handrail an outward-opening door, added the official.

The city corporation is also running campaigns to encourage people to share feedback on how clean community and public toilets are, including those in private establishments that are accessed by the public. In a bid to keep the city clean and prevent urination or defecation in open, the GHMC officials have put over 350 public toilets on Google maps so people can locate the toilets and use them. Moreover, the corporation had earlier persuaded around 257 hotels and restaurants along with over 250 fuel stations in the city to permit general public to use the toilets in their premises.

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