Finding a washroom at an event, a proper usable one is a headache you face at almost all public gatherings. But this may change for the better soon. The Bhutan Toilet Organisation, a non-governmental organisation, has come up with a solution- mobile toilet buses, which are basically toilets constructed inside buses. These mobile toilets will go around social events providing access to clean toilets and that too for free.
The mobile toilet bus features separate compartments for men and women.
Besides the latrines with doors and hand wash basins, there are also urinals in the men’s section, a diaper changing station, a baby carrier and waiting seats in the women’s booth.
The bus is also equipped with a 1200-litre water tank on the top which, according to the organisation, can cater to around 2400 people. It has another tank to store the waste.
According to the Bhutan Toilet Organisation, this initiative will also contribute towards sustaining the country’s achievement of having been declared open-defecation-free in 2022.
“Since 2017, when hosting events, we’ve faced the challenge of lacking proper toilet facilities. We’ve tried portable toilets, but they’re standalone units, heavy to transport, and difficult to load and unload. We’ve always wanted a toilet on wheels, and this year, we’ve finally made that a reality,” said Chablop Passu, the Executive Director of the Bhutan Toilet Organisation.
The “Toilet Bus” has been constructed using an old city bus with funding from the European Union. The bus was provided free of cost by the Department of Properties and Procurement.
For now, the toilet bus will be driven around social gatherings in Thimphu and Paro. The organisation has already started working on another toilet bus and plans to construct more.
Chablop Passu said, “This was our first project, and we’re really happy with the result. Now that we know we can do it, we have another bus ready to be transformed in the same way. Once we’ve finished that, and with no more old city buses left, we’ll move on to converting container toilets, and I believe we’ll have several of them.”
To help maintain the buses, he added that they are also thinking of hiring out the toilet bus for a certain fee.
Kelzang Chhophyel
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
