In a bid to facilitate pilgrims and visitors, the Pashupati Development Trust has brought 23 portable mobile toilets to operate on its premises.

Officials said that the installation of these latrines will help make the Pashupati area free from open defecation. Prem Hari Dhungana, information officer at the trust, said that the portable toilets will come into operation in the Pashupati area from the first week of June. There will be no charges for using the latrines.  

Earlier, the metropolis had announced its plan to set up movable latrines in public places but had so far failed to materialise its plan. The metropolis in January  had made the announcement to install ‘smart public toilets’  but there had not been any significant progress.

The trust has plans to instal 19 units of box toilets brought from China and one trolley unit with four toilets brought from India on its premises. The portable box toilets are being handed to the trust by Everest Bank, while NIC Asia Bank will hand over the trolley toilet, according to Dhungana.  

The box toilets have auto flush system with a basin inside and is equipped with a small water storage tank. Dhungana said the units come with proper drainage system capable of managing human waste in an environment-friendly manner. “Each box toilet can store human solid waste of up to seven users, that’s why we have the units equipped with proper drainage system,” said Dhungana.

Meanwhile, the trolley unit with four toilets, brought from Kolkata, come with a separate water tank with a 500-litre capacity. It also has a basin and an auto flush system in each toilet. This unit will be installed in Aryaghat and on occasions when the footfall increases especially during festive times.

According to Dhungana, the cost of each unit of box toilet is Rs107,500 and the trolley unit Rs1.2 million.

The trust plans to keep four box toilets—two each for men and women users.  A separate water tank with a 1,000-litre capacity will be placed in the area. The trust has marked areas such as Aryaghat, Mirgasthali, Suryaghat and the place where pilgrims take off their footwear to enter the main temple to instal the toilets at.   

“These portable toilets will be of great relief for visitors.  This will be very helpful to keep the area hygienic and clean,” said Pradeep Dhakal, member secretary of the trust. “These movable lavatories will come handy during festival times such as Shivaratri, Teej and Bala Chaturdashi when the flow of visitors can be quite overwhelming,” said Dhakal.

The trust is planning to deploy one person per four units of the toilet. “The trust is holding a meeting regarding the number of employees required to maintain the hygiene of the toilet,” Said Dhungana.  

The trust has been providing free latrine facilities in five places but most of them are unhygienic, unusable and unmanaged.