BDA to develop transgender toilet at Biju Patnaik Park

Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) is going to construct the first transgender toilet in the city.

The first transgender toilet facility will be available at Biju Patnaik Park, which was earlier known as Forest Park. It will be the first such facility to be developed in Odisha.

The toilet for transgender or gender-neutral toilet would be built as per specifications laid by the Public Works Department and Public Health Engineering Department of the State Government. Once the work order is issued, the facility would be available for use within one month’s time by the contractor. It would cost Rs 3.6 lakh to the development authority.

It can be mentioned here that Odisha would be the fifth state in India to have toilets for the transgenders. Previously Punjab University, Mysore Municipal Corporation, Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Kochi metro have designed such toilets for the third gender.

After Mysore, Bhopal is the second city in the country where a separate toilet has been constructed for the transgender community by the urban local body. The Bhopal facility, however, has a “changing room/make-up room” for the users.

Different signage for men, women, handicapped and transgender people are emblazoned on the doors of the toilet in Bhopal. Transgender people live in large numbers in the Mangalwara locality of Bhopal, also known as the City of Lakes.

Kochi Metro, meanwhile, has set an example by providing all-gender restrooms after Mysore and Bhopal. During a training session for its first set of transgender recruits, officials of the new metro rail company in the south Indian port city first made an internal survey on the basic requirements of their new staff and then came to know that the exclusive toilet for the transgender was the most desired one.

In all toilets, meant for transgender community across the nation, the signages have included inclusive design elements.