Mr. Arun Sundar Thayalan, an IAS Officer of the 2008 batch, was transferred from Madurai to Chennai in December 2013 and took charge as Regional Deputy Commissioner (Central) of the Corporation of Chennai. One of his pet projects has been to reduce people pissing in the open. The earlier toilets, of the pay-and-use variety, were brick and mortar structures, with someone sitting in front of them to levy the toll charges. That model works reasonably well in the residential parts of the city. In other parts, however, even where traffic is heavy, the viability of such toilets seems to have been a problem.
Mr. Thayalan's solution was something that looks like the port-a-loo, but is a lot more stable. Several of them have been installed in different parts of the city (mainly the Central zone, I guess). This one is across the road - Whites Road, that is - from Express Avenue. Can't fault the positioning, for this is one place where people pause to relieve themselves. With this dual toilet booth in place, one hopes that it being used as it is meant to be!
