[custom_adv] Like many women, college student Suvarna Dongare dreads getting caught short when she is out and about, with hygienic public toilets in short supply across the country. [custom_adv] So she was pleasantly surprised to find a pink women-only "washroom-on-wheels" in a public park in Pune, where a pair of entrepreneurs have transformed run-down buses into hop-on toilets. [custom_adv] "I came to the park and wanted to visit the bathroom urgently. These toilets are very comfortable and felt safe," 18-year-old Dongare told. [custom_adv] For a relatively affordable five-rupee-fee (seven US cents), any woman can board the toilet to use the facilities, breastfeed babies or purchase sanitary napkins and diapers. An attendant taking stock of supplies inside a mobile toilet on a bus at a public park in Pune. [custom_adv] Launched in 2016 by entrepreneurs Ulka Sadalkar and Rajeev Kher, the "Ti Toilet" project -- "ti" means "her" in the local Marathi language -- has 12 mobile washrooms, on average used by more 200 women daily. The buses are powered by solar panels mounted on top of the vehicle. [custom_adv] Sadalkar said the pair, who run a portable sanitation business, came up with the idea as part of a series of projects focused on improving hygiene in the city. [custom_adv] Currently, the program is supported by the local government and corporate social-responsibility funds pooled from several companies. It costs about 1 million rupees ($14,000) to refurbish one bus, according to Sadalkar. She and Kher are testing revenue models; the cafés could raise money for operations, as could advertising.
