Ethiopian professor creates design for bus-stops

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The only foreign student in the Industrial Design Centre of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has created a design that will give Mumbai a makeover and maximise the use of limited space in the city by utilising the area in the vicinity of bus-stops to provide environment-friendly toilets as well as set up kiosks for vending. Tuumay Allene, who completed the two-year under graduate course from IIT-B, said the design was made keeping in mind the needs of the urban population and the limited land resource in the city.

Allene, a professor of Architecture in Ethiopia, said the idea was based on the need to beautify the area around Powai lake and also provide sanitation facilities for the public.

“I made two designs; the first one was a dry low-cost toilet for rural areas and the second was street furniture. As people from rural areas defecate in the open, they continue the practice in urban areas as well. So, I decided to take it up as a challenge and designed the dry toilet that is effective in dry waste management and reduces the use of water,” said Mr Allene.

He was guided in the project by Prof Uday Athvankar, founder of IDC.

Regarding the street furniture, Mr Allene said, “Bus-stops in foreign countries are used to disseminate information and also used as a gathering place. Hence, I have integrated both this concept and dry toilets in my design. The bus-stops could also have vending kiosks that can pay for the upkeep of the bus-stop,” said Mr Allene.

He added that he had shared the idea with MMRDA, while Larsen and Toubro had agreed to sponsor the prototype.

Mr Dilip Kawatkar, spokesperson, MMRDA said that while the project was innovative, it would require the participation of the BMC and BEST for it to be implemented.

Source:The Asian Age