To tackle female hygiene issues and lead access to sanitation in the city - the Chennai Corporation has been planning to set up ‘She toilets’ for women in 348 locations, which will be opened by the end of the year. These 348 locations include bus stands, markets and open spaces. The news comes as a relief to women who work outdoors all day, such as vendors, construction workers and police officers. The first-of-its-kind e-toilets (electronic, fully automated toilets) in the city will have sanitary-napkin vending machines and incinerators. According to a senior corporation official, this is the first time Chennai Corporation has conducted a detailed survey and mapping of where public toilets are required and where the public opposes it. Earlier the corporation would merely ask the zonal engineer where to put up a toilet.

The most attractive feature of the e-toilet is that it flushes automatically even if a person fails to flush. It is fully automated and after five uses, the unit automatically cleans up the entire toilet. The fans and lights turn on and off as a person enters and leaves. To prevent vandalism and encroachment of public toilets, the She toilets will have GPRS devices. It also has a voice complaint system where a person can simply press a button and record a complaint about the toilet. Chennai currently has a little over 900 public toilets, inadequate for its 65 lakh population. The official also mentioned that the city is short of 2,000 toilets, and they will ensure that this is corrected by March 2015.