Although India is developing at a rapid rate, some persisting problems need an enduring solution. While management of colossal plastic wastes is one of them, provision of adequate sanitation facilities is another. While separate solutions might elude us, an architect from Hyderabad has solved both issues in one go. Inspired by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Rashmii Tiwari has designed a module for public toilet units built from waste plastic bottles.

What started off as a final year design project for Rashmii, was launched for all practical purposes right after she passed with flying colours. Her design proposed the use of polyethene terephthalate, or PET, instead of bricks to construct the toilet walls. Given that PET is basically the kind of plastic that mineral water bottles and the likes are made of, it is heedlessly discarded and thus, abundantly available. Stacking these bottles with a binding mortar made from mud, cow dung, and cow urine, the exteriors and interiors were plastered with a mixture of cement and sand. The practical implementation of her project started off at the Dr Ambedkar Government School in Hyderabad. Rashmii told The Better India in this report that having received staunch support from the school’s principal, she invested Rs18000 from her own pocket for the constructing the unit.

A large part of urban and rural Indian population lack access to sanitation facilities. People, especially women, are exposed to several health hazards along with a risk of physical safety and modesty. The scenario is self-explanatory about the urgency of clean public toilets. Instead of directing additional, cost-incurring resources for the same, Rashimii’s novel solution utilizes the outcome of India’s tremendous manufacture and recycling of PET. The prototype proposed by her can be constructed within mere two weeks, and is as resistant to weather conditions as a brick-and-cement model. Rashmii’s initiative has been endorsed by Harichandana Dasari, the zonal commissioner of the central zone, GHMC (The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation), and around 80 modules are set to be built in a zone under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.