By A Staff Reporter
Lalitpur, Dec. 1: A model universally accessible public toilet has come into operation at Patandhoka, Lalitpur.
The toilet has been specially designed to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities, senior citizens and gender and sexual minorities and also has sanitary pad vending and disposal machines along with breastfeeding areas and diaper changing station, according to AEROSAN, the social enterprise which set up the toilet.

AEROSAN Country Representative Prakash Amatya informed that the toilet was also made to be sustainable, constructed with a mechanism to harvest rainwater and extract biogas. The biogas is used in the cafeteria alongside the toilet for cooking purposes.

The toilet was constructed by the Society of Nepal Architects (SONA) with support from the Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA) on land near the Patandhoka bus park, provided by the Lalitpur Metropolitan City. According to Amatya, it cost Rs. 8 million to build the accessible lavatory. Of this amount, SONA put in Rs. 4 million and AEROSAN another Rs. 4 million. “Our aim in building this toilet is to contribute to the hygiene and sanitation of the community and generate employment opportunities,” Amatya said.

With regard to employment, AEROSAN has employed people with disabilities with prior experience of working in the sanitation sector to manage the Patandhoka toilet. Chanda Nepal, 32, is one of them and she told The Rising Nepal that she was ecstatic to have been given the opportunity to serve the people’s hygiene needs.

This is the second universally accessible public toilet built in Lalitpur; the first one was in Mangalbazaar. It was inaugurated on Tuesday by Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City Chiri Babu Maharjan. Speaking on the occasion, Maharjan said that such smart toilets would go a long way in helping transform Lalitpur into a smart city.
The toilet was conceptualised in 2013.