Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is drawing up an ambitious programme to construct more than 500 public toilet complexes across the state to realise the objectives of complete Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.

The complexes, with more than 3,000 toilet seats, are envisaged to be built in densely populated urban centres, including beaches, parks, beside national and state highways, tourism centres and at the premises of major state-run institutions, including police stations.

Rural Kerala was declared as ODF last year, becoming the first ODF state among the densely populated in the country.

The authorities are now on a mission to declare urban areas of the southern state ODF shortly.

A top official of Suchitwa Mission, the state nodal agency for sanitation, said the construction of more public toilets are inevitable to achieve the real objective of the ambitious ODF programme.

The Suchitwa Mission and civic bodies are jointly entrusted to implement the public toilet initiative.

“The government’s plan is to set up over 500 public toilet complexes. Under this, over 3,000 toilet seats will be constructed. We can spend up to Rs98,000 (Dh5,542) per seat,” Suchitwa mission Director (Operations) C V Joy said.

Respective corporations and municipalities have been asked to identify locations to set up toilets as part of the programme, he said.

Besides this, the cooperation of various government agencies including National Highway Authority of India, state tourism department, police stations, hospitals, collectorates and taluk offices have been sought to provide space for toilets, Joy said.

Space constraint is the major challenge to implement this initiative, the official said.

“But [the] majority of departments have offered us support. The National Highway Authority officials also offered cooperation, but [a] widening of highways is an issue in constructing toilets beside highways,” he said.

Currently, only hotels and petrol pumps offer toilet facilities for the public, Joy said.

Detailing the features of the proposed public toilets, the official said they would be “differently-abled, women and child-friendly”.

Under the ODF programme, about 1,75,000 toilets have been constructed in rural Kerala, including in remote tribal hamlets and waterlogged areas.

Suchitwa Mission is the implementing agency of the initiative.