The Environment Management Division (EMD) of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is putting up 10 mobile public toilets in 10 of the busiest areas of the capital — New Baneshwor, Kalanki, Singa Durbar and the city’s bus parks. Each restroom covering around 200 square-feet will

take Rs 1-5 lakhs to construct. The drive to install mobile loos comes at a time when KMC has only been able to construct three of the planned 20 public toilets in Kathmandu for the lack of construction area. In this scenario, mobile toilets provide the perfect solution as they can be dismantled and moved around as and when necessary.

Kathmandu is dismally short in public toilets. Nonetheless, shortage of space and frequent changes in road dimensions make the construction of permanent structures difficult and expensive. The easy to spot — and hopefully clean and relatively cheap — facilities will give Valley denizens added incentive not to litter public spaces and follow proper toilet manners. In fact, most major cities in Nepal face an acute shortage of toilet facilities, especially in busy areas owing to space constraints. Hence there is a genuine case for building cost-effective and efficient mobile toilets in busy spots across the country. Coming back to the Valley, the vision of clean, green and healthy Kathmandu will remain a pipe dream unless both the citizens and their representative bodies take an active interest in its fulfilment.