Bhubaneswar, May 7: The civic body has come up with a rigorous standard operating procedure to repair and renovate some of the existing public and community toilets, many of which have been lying defunct, in a bid to improve sanitation facilities.

The move comes days after the announcement of a Centre-sponsored cleanliness survey, the Swachh Survekshan II, where Bhubaneswar finished a dismal 94th out of 434 cities across India. Carried out in January and February, the survey evaluated cities on five parameters - waste collection, solid-waste management, construction of toilets, sanitation strategies and behaviour change communication. The rankings were based on data provided by municipal corporations, independent assessors and citizen feedback.

"We have decided to follow the state government's guidelines to make defunct toilets operational. We will form a team, which will make field visits and assess their condition. It will then submit a report on what needs to be done to re-open the toilets," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The list will then be handed over to the Public Health Engineering Organisation, which will float tenders or itself take up renovation of the toilets.

The civic body also has specific designs in mind for the toilets that need renovation, including accessibility to cesspool emptier, provision of ramps for the differently-abled, adequate ventilation and anti-skid flooring.

These toilets would also have overhead water tanks. Separate entrances for men and women, adequate lighting at the entrances, lift cock taps in each cubicle, waste bins in each cubicle, hand wash facility are among the other amenities that the civic body has in mind. It will also ensure that user charges are written clearly at the entrance.

Besides, it would make the complex caretaker responsible to ensure the toilets are not used for unlawful activities.

"We framed the standard operating procedure having considered past problems. It will help ensure better management," said Jena.

The administration is also in the process of constructing more toilets in different key locations of the city. It is in the process of constructing 26 community toilets and 27 public toilets under Project Samman. The toilets under this project are being constructed as a joint venture with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Building Construction Corporation as the building partner.

Another 32 hybrid toilets under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme, in collaboration with Sulabh International, are also coming up. Sulabh has taken up the project in design-build-maintain mode. There will be three types of toilet complexes, which will have five, seven and 10 seats. Sulabh sources said a 10-seat toilet would cost Rs 25 lakh.

At present, the civic body has 32 public toilets and 40 community toilets in various parts of the city. The administration plans to finish the renovation work by the year-end.

The World Health Organisation's guideline on sanitation ensures at least one public toilet for every 100 persons in urban areas such as Bhubaneswar. Accordingly, the capital should have nearly 10,000 toilets for its 10 lakh-odd residents. However, it has less than 100 at present, excluding the facilities of Sulabh.

"Public toilets are a rarity here. The civic body has not provided enough toilets, forcing many to urinate in the open. The situation for women is worse. I hope the problem will be solved," said Unit III resident Binayak Rath.