Chennai will soon host a unique international festival called the Toilet Festival. Yes you read it right - a toilet festival to create awareness and to study the plight of toilets in the city. This innovative event will be conducted by Recycle Bin and Cheer team in collaboration with International Institute for Infrastructural Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE Delft, Netherlands), Dutch Ministry, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and DotProduct Solutions LLP from March 30 to April 2.
Toilet tales of which International Toilet Festival is a part of, is led and curated by CEO and Principal Architect of Studio Recycle Bin Ganga Dileep C. “The festival will comprise mapping of toilets, toilet fellowship, toilet festival, and toilet expo among others,” said Ganga.
The toilet mapathon will be done through an android app called “Kakkoos App” across 15 zones that comes under the Greater Chennai Corporation. “The mapathon will be done by volunteers and anyone who wants to volunteer for this event can approach us and we will accommodate them,’’ said Ms. Ganga said. The volunteers will be asked to collect the ground data about the number of public toilets and its qualitative aspects.
“Prior to the event, we are offering toilet fellowships,” said Ms. Ganga. Toilet Fellowship 2022 will have two parts, the initial seven-day toilet training for 30 fellows prior to mapathon and the three-month fellowship (May to July 2022) for the final 10 fellows. The fellowship will offer an interdisciplinary space to explore, observe and learn about the public toilet network and sanitation conditions of the city from a ground level.
“Through the mapathon and fellowship, different aspects of sanitation and its network such as gender, inclusivity, safety, hygiene, governance, toilet economy, management, maintenance, design and health will be looked at and analyzed,” said Ms. Ganga said. “The data documentation and analysis will result in an integrated and holistic sanitation — water management report and strategy for the city of Chennai which will act as potential space for deriving at other similar projects.”
The Toilet Expo will be conducted on April 2 and 3 and will contain sustainable sanitary products, practices, services and solutions showcased from different parts of the world.
