An urgent call answered

Jisha Surya
First Published : 23 Feb 2010

Finally, Attukal Amma has answered the prayer thousands of devotees had been making all these years. From this year’s Pongala onwards, portable toilets will be available within a 6-km radius of the temple for the use of women devotees who come to offer pongala.
 Last year, the Temple Trust had promised to introduce mobile toilets for devotees. The promise is being fulfilled with the help of Garden Enviro Fabs, which has the distinction of providing toilet facilities at the Kumbh Mela.
 ``This year, 60 new mobile toilet services will be available, apart from the newly-constructed 50 permanent toilets for the 25 lakh women who are expected to come to the city on Sunday for offering pongala. The portable telephone booth-like toilets will have all facilities, including a wash basin,’’ said R. Gopinathan Nair, president of the Attukal Temple Trust, on Monday.
 The arrangement, provided by Garden Enviro, consists of a portable toilet and a septic tank cleaning facility. ``We know sixty toilets are not enough. However, only six septic tanks are available to store the waste from these toilets. Hence, we had to limit the number to sixty,’’ Gopinathan Nair said.
 The Trust needs to pay a rent of Rs 3,000 per day per toilet. Industrial Sewing Syndicate, the Kochi arm of Garden Enviro, will be responsible for arranging the facilities at the temple. The portable toilets will be ready to use on February 26 and continue their service till the evening of Pongala Day.
 There will be a caretaker woman for each toilet. The toilet facility will be available within 6 km of the temple. The toilets have built-in water and waste storage facility.
 Apart from the portable toilets, the devotees can also use the 50 new permanent toilets on the temple premises. The facilities at the Thampanoor bus station and the public comfort station just outside the bus stand can also be used by devotees.