Bhubaneswar, Feb. 4: The municipal corporation will get money from the Odisha Urban Infrastructure Development Fund to execute the much-awaited flexi-toilet project in the city.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in January last year decided to set up around 100 flexi toilets at various locations across the city. The project was unique since the flexi toilets would be movable structures that could be shifted elsewhere at any time based on requirements.

The state housing and urban development department had called a meeting earlier last month to discuss funding of the project and decided to supply the funds from the urban infrastructure body. "We had a preliminary meeting, and the final modalities will be decided on shortly," said a department official.

Earlier, the civic body had decided to execute the project with financial assistance from various private agencies. "The project report is ready. It has also been approved in the corporation meeting. We had been called by the government and seen a presentation on the flexi toilets," said a senior civic body official.

Sources said it would be easy shift the flexi toilets from one place to another. "The walls of the urinals will be made of fibre while the base will be concrete. Such toilets can be easily moved from one place to another. It will also be cost effective and easy to maintain," said the official.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said the civic body was committed to providing quality services to the citizens in the smart city. "We are competing in a national-level cleanliness survey and provision for adequate public toilets is one of the parameters on which the city will be judged. We will expedite the process to set up the flexi toilets in the city shortly," said Jena.

The toilets will be for both women and men. There will be two, four and six units in the urinals. Six such urinals will be put up on the stretch from Janpath to Vani Vihar to Sishu Bhavan Square.

The lack of public toilets has always been a cause for concern in the city. However, with the recent developments, the civic body is in the process of executing a project called hybrid toilet, via which more than 150 toilets will be set up over the next three years. The 100 flexi toilets will be in addition to that.

"Urinating in the open is rampant in the city since there are very few public toilets in the city. It's especially a problem for the ladies. The few that exist are difficult to use because they are dirty and decrepit. I hope the civic body considers this issue seriously and executes the projects on time," said Patia resident Girija Rath.