The Birbhum district administration on Saturday launched a ‘loo-on-wheels’ facility by refurbishing a bus with modern fitments at Sonajhuri Haat — a popular destination for tourists who visit Santiniketan.
The move came following long-standing demands from tourists, especially women, who had raised complaints about the lack of toilets in this crowded tourist spot, a situation that has reportedly led to unsavoury incidents in the past.
Sonajhuri Haat, which was earlier a weekend craft market in Santiniketan, is now a weeklong fixture in the town. Thousands of tourists, mostly from Kolkata, visit the craft market on weekends to purchase items directly from artisans.
The bus, with ‘Loo’ on written on it, has three toilets, a changing room, a maternity corner and a toilet for the physically-challenged. Women from self-help groups have also opened food stalls in its vicinity.
“We have spent around Rs 22 lakh to turn a bus into a toilet. A group of women from a self-help group will operate the it,” said Birbhum district magistrate Bidhan Ray.
“As of now, Santiniketan is the first place in West Bengal to introduce a loo-on-wheels,” Ray added.
The charge to use the toilet is Rs 30.
Sources said the district administration was earlier unable to put up permanent structures or toilets at the same spot owing to an embargo issued by the state forest department.
Eloo (electronic loo) — a Chhattisgarh-based social start-up — had reportedly placed the idea before the West Bengal government earlier this year.
“After we visited Sonajhuri Haat, we came to know about the trouble faced by women visiting there.
So, we placed our idea before the government,” said Diptendu Roy, co-founder of Eloo and an engineering graduate who hails from Bolpur.
