Beijing's public toilets must not exceed two flies, according to new standards handed down by zealous officials striving to clean up China's notoriously filthy loos. The unusual rule applies to lavatories in parks, railway stations, airports, hospitals, malls and supermarkets in the capital, said the Beijing News on Wednesday.

More conventional demands from the municipal committee in charge of the image of the city include an order that there is no accumulation of urine or water in the capital's public toilets and that bins aren't overflowing. AFP

NONGSTOIN: Thousands of people participated in the Total Sanitation Campaign programme organised by the State Water and Sanitation Board in collaboration with the District Water and Sanitation Mission at Mawkyrwat on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh was the chief guest on the occasion. The main objective of the Campaign was to eliminate the practice of open defecation and pigsty toilets, ensuring construction of sanitary latrines for households apart from safe disposal of human faeces and maintenance of personal and environmental hygiene.

Beijing’s public toilets must not exceed two flies, according to new standards handed down by zealous officials striving to clean up China’s notoriously filthy loos.

The unusual rule applies to lavatories in parks, railway stations, airports, hospitals, malls and supermarkets in the capital, said the Beijing News today.

More conventional demands from the municipal committee in charge of the image of the city include an order that there is no accumulation of urine or water in the capital’s public toilets and that bins aren’t overflowing.

A public toilet in Beijing's Zhongguancun area The benchmarks apply to toilets in public premises or on roadsides

Authorities in the Chinese capital have set new standards for public toilets, including a stipulation that they should contain no more than two flies.

The new rules, published by the commission of city administration, also set standards on odour and cleaning litter bins.

Toilets in places such as tourist spots must comply with the new standards.

But it is not clear whether failing washrooms will be punished and if so, how.

HOSUR: As many as 2,104 houses are being constructed under the Chief Minister’s Solar-powered Green House Scheme in Krishnagiri district, said Municipal Administration Minister K P Munusamy.

Reviewing the developmental work in Krishnagiri in the presence of Collector C N Maheswaran, the minister said that officials should complete the construction work and have the houses ready by July 30.

Outside the shiny MCD building near Moolchand flyover sits security guard Aslam. He has been guarding the seven-star toilet-cum-coffee shop against vandals for more than a year and half now. The toilet complex, constructed ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, has never been used. It is among the nine prototypes that were built two years ago. The plan was to replicate them across the city.

A model bus terminal planned in Kalasipalyam

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will soon introduce a bus with a passenger capacity of 110, Transport minister R Ashoka said on Thursday. The new bus will be 14.5 mt in length as opposed to the existing city buses which are 12 mt in length. The new bus would hit the road within a month and the idea is to provide more space for passengers, Ashoka said.

Non-government organisation Sulabh International on Thursday said it would give a Rs.2-lakh cash reward to newly-married Priyanka of Kanchanpur Kuiya village in Maharajganj district of Uttar Pradesh who refused to go to her in-laws' house because it lacked a proper toilet. The NGO, working in the field of sanitation, has also decided to build a toilet at her in-laws' home.

This is the pitiful state of the residents of the locality on the HMT Watch Factory-Jalahalli Road. What may seem like sheer incivility of the people is a situation they have been pushed into. Rajesh, a resident, said: “Most of us earn a living by working as construction labourers and hardly earn money for two meals a day. With great difficulty, we have been able to build these concrete houses, but, due to the lack of drainage facilities, no toilets were built.”

The Railways have found a way around a lingering problem: passengers with reservations on long-distance trains on South Eastern Railway will now get bottles of phenyl-like substances to ensure hygiene in toilets on board. The experiment will start in the air-conditioned coaches on Duronto and other long-distance trains that take more than 30 hours to reach their destinations. If the experiment is successful, it will be introduced in more trains.