With the announcement of the Swachh Bharat campaign, government agencies across the country have been on a drive to end open defecation and build toilets. However, S. Paramasivan, who heads the India office of NGO Wherever the Need in Puducherry, cautions the overdrive in building flush toilets. Having worked in the sanitation field for more than 25 years, he says he has observed instances of groundwater contamination in Cuddalore area where toilets were built as part of the earlier Total Sanitation Campaign. The water samples that were tested showed E-coli contamination, a sign of leachate infiltration, he says. “Are we doing good for the community or increasing the chance of an epidemic,” he asks.
His organisation has now taken up promoting ecological sanitation through EcoSan toilets. The EcoSan toilets are pre-fabricated and can be made of different materials such as fibre glass, aluminium, tin powder and iron. They can be permanent or portable structures and a steel frame unit can weigh around 70 kg. A permanent EcoSan toilet unit costs around Rs. 26,500, says Mr. Paramasivan. As the conventional flush toilet unit costs around Rs. 15,000, governments have not been too keen to take up EcoSan toilets, he says.
The EcoSan toilet makes use of minimal water and uses a rotational crate system to collect faecal matter. The collected material is treated and can be used as fertilizer, with urine being turned into concentrated nutrient fluid with almost no treatment. He says with large scale use of EcoSan toilets, India can consider stopping the import of fertilizers.
In Puducherry, the organisation has set up portable EcoSan toilets in urban slum areas in Velrampet, Kombakkam and Murungapakkam, targeting 1,000 families. The areas which were selected are those where there are difficulties in setting up permanent structures, as they are congested. Ever since the first unit of the EcoSan toilet was installed, the demand has increased, he says. His team had set up two toilets in June and now have completed 12 units.
“Efforts towards sanitation are ineffective without educating users on the link between sanitation, health and economy,” says Mr. S. Paramasivan.
