[nukkad] sanitation........

[Albert Joseph <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  Re-use your plastic bags. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello friends,

I have seen the enclosed article this morning in 'India World Head
lines.com' and it seems very useful and gives awareness to everyone of us!

Regards,
AJ
***************

F A C E S   O F   I N D I A 
    
	"Our aim is to provide a human development approach to sanitation" 
	Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Ph.D., D.Litt., Founder, Sulabh Movement 
	This profound statement makes sense as it is coming from an
individual who has founded an organisation that makes close to a million
rupees a day by maintaining public toilet complexes constructed by it across
the country. His family members sold off personal property and jewellery to
support his vision and financed Dr. Pathak's maiden research activities.
	Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, 57, founded the Sulabh Shauchalayas Sansthan
(now called Sulabh International Social Organisation) in Bihar in 1970. The
objective was to provide cost-effective sanitation to the masses and to
develop alternative waste disposal techniques. This was mainly to ensure
that human beings (scavengers) would not have to clean and handle human
excreta manually as was practiced in towns and villages of India.
	Today, Sulabh, a non-governmental organisation has built 10,00,000
toilets and 4,000 community public toilet complexes which are used by
approximately 10 million people everyday throughout the country. This
success has lead to the liberation and rehabilitation of 50,000 scavengers
in India. Besides, the organisation has also successfully researched and
developed alternative bio-energy sources generated from wastes.
	Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1991 for his
distinguished social service and has received several other awards
recognising his contribution like the National Citizen's Award in 1992 from
the then President Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, the International St. Francis
Prize for Environment in 1992 from Pope John Paul II, the Priyadarshani
Award in 1994, Limca Book of Records, Man of the Year in 1995 and many
others.
	The low-cost sanitation technology pioneered by Dr. Pathak has also
been recognised and won many accolades for Sulabh from both national and
international bodies including the World Health Organisation, United Nations
Economic and Social Council, Dubai Municipality and United Nations Centre
for Human Settlements among others.
	In an interview with MANISHA PARIKH SRIVASTAVA in New Delhi, DR.
PATHAK explains why he initiated such an organisation and a movement to
liberate scavengers. He speaks at length on the various alternative energy
sources developed by Sulabh and his vision to convert Sulabh into health
care centres in remote and rural areas of the country.
	Q: Would you agree that you have almost created a mini revolution?
	A: The Sulabh Movement can be termed as a revolution as we have
constructed Sulabh Centres in 22 states, 338 districts and 987 towns around
the country. We have a workforce of 50000 trained and experienced workers
who include engineers, research scientists, chemists, teachers, social
workers, journalists and many others who are committed to the organisation
objective of eliminating scavenging from the country and to ensure that
nobody ever needs to defecate in the open.
	Sulabh has developed the basic model to improve sanitation
facilities and demonstrated that it is effective. This model and technology
has been accepted not only in India but also recognised by international
bodies. We would like the government and the people to take it ahead as the
Sulabh technology can be adopted on a mass-scale for the development of our
cities, towns and villages.
	Even today 110 million Indian houses have no toilets and 10 million
houses have bucket toilets which cause filth and diseases. The widespread
phenomenon of open defecation remains grim even after 53 years of
independence.
	Sulabh has made a beginning and we now want to grow it into a
full-fledged movement encompassing health care, poverty alleviation, and
employment and being a catalyst to integrated rural development.  One of the
steps in this direction is to introduce health care centres along with
community toilet complexes.
	Our vision for 2001 is, "Sulabh towards Villages." The movement till
date has more or less been confined to cities, towns and district
headquarters. We want to how reach out to villages of India and would like
more people to join hands with us and help us take this movement further.
	Q: Looking back, what is the most satisfying outcome of Sulabh?
	A: One of the main aims to set up Sulabh was to rehabilitate
scavengers. This has been Gandhiji's unfulfilled dream. Gandhiji, as you
maybe be aware, championed the cause of liberating untouchables, which
included scavengers. We have successfully liberated 50,000 scavengers, so
far. What can be more satisfying?
	You have seen for yourself and interacted with the school children
here in Delhi. This school provides free education and skill development
facilities to 400 scavenger children. The aim is to bring them into the
mainstream of society by providing education, training and thus raising
their social status.
	It is a matter of pride for the Sulabh family that we have been
invited by neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and South
Africa, Tanzania and Kenya to help train the people there in the Sulabh
technology. Sulabh technology has helped in finding solutions for human
wastes disposal in areas like Siachen, Ladakh, Alaska, Siberia etc.
	At the organisation level there have been so many other
achievements.  Sulabh was the first to develop a biogas generation plant
from human excreta; we have built 75 such plants till date. Sulabh has
developed the world's largest toilet-cum-bath complex at the temple town of
Shirdi in Maharashtra costing Rs. 1.53 crore which has over 100 toilets and
bathing cubicles, 5000 lockers and can serve 30000 persons (pilgrims)
everyday. We have also built a unique Toilet Museum, which is the only one
of its kind in the world.
	Besides, the construction of 10,00,000 toilets and 4000 community
toilet complexes, the maintenance of these toilet complexes has generated
employment for a large number of people.
	The progress is satisfying and there is a motivation to take the
movement ahead with more ambitious projects to help the masses.
	Q: A little unusual that you should think of building public toilets
or liberating scavengers in this age.
	A: I was born in Bihar, in a Brahmin family but I have seen the
problem of sanitation and the miserable condition of scavengers
(untouchables) there, which may seem ironical to many in the age of
computers and dotcoms.
	After my college education and a few odd jobs, it was a matter of
chance that I decided to volunteer for the Bihar Gandhi Centenary
Celebrations Committee in 1968. As a member of this committee, I was
assigned the task of working with the Bhangi mukti (scavengers liberation)
cell. During the centenary year, I was intimately exposed to the problems of
scavengers in India. I studied, visited and even lived with scavengers in
their bastis to study their habits and social problems. The centenary
celebrations ended after 12 months but by the time I was convinced that I
should devote my life to fulfil Gandhiji's unfulfilled dream of eliminating
scavengering.
	Q: Where did you begin?
	A: After the centenary celebrations, I went on to do my Ph. D on
"Liberation of Scavengers Through Low-Cost Sanitation" and later my D.Litt.
on Eradication of Scavenging and Environmental Sanitation in India, which is
a Sociological Study. This research helped me understand the sanitation
problems in both urban and rural areas and also alternative low cost
solutions to the problems.
	I developed a simple technology called two-pit pour-flush
technology, which is affordable, safe and hygienic in absence of sewers and
septic tanks. It was a difficult task to convenice administrators, planners
and engineers to try out this method and technology. So, that is how the
Sulabh began its journey and we launched the first pay-and-use toilet on an
experimental basis from Patna in 1974. At the time civic authorities in
Patna feared that the project would fail, as people would not pay for
anything so basic.  But, it has succeeded.
	Q: Why did you choose to extend your program to urban cities?
	A: In the urban areas, civic authorities in a hurry to meet
sanitation facilities, set up string of toilets, which could not be
maintained by them. Lack of water, missing doors, and over-flowing drains
compounded the misery of the public toilet users. Sulabh's pay and use
toilets fit this gap very effectively. Our aim to provide mass sanitation
facilities encompasses the need to provide hygienic sanitation facilities
also.
	Sulabh toilet complexes have 24-hours water supply and electricity.
They have separate enclosures for men and women and round-the-clock
attendants overseeing the maintenance of these toilet complexes.
	Q: What about the development cost and the land used in these
complexes. And how does your organisation oversee the collection of the
revenues in the pay-and use schemes?
	A: The authorities desirous of getting the Sulabh public toilet
complex built contact us and provide us with the site where the complex is
to be constructed.
	The sponsoring authorities provide the land as well as funds for the
construction. The cost of a public toilet complex depends on the design,
rates of labour and materials in the area and total number of seats. The
architecture is developed to match the surrounding area of the town or city.
We charge 20 per cent of the cost for constructing these complexes and
undertake the maintenance of these complexes for 30 years, free of cost.
	We charge one rupee from each person who uses the services of Sulabh
all over the country. In economic backward places we even let communities
use the toilet and bathing facilities for free. Sulabh volunteers do a
surprise check on any day each month at the Sulabh Centres. The amount
collected on that particular day is taken to be the daily average collection
for that month. Pilferages may occur in this system but it is better than
building an elaborate system where our cost to counter-check pilferages is
larger than the revenue.
	Q: You have also developed alternative energy sources using wastes.
	Can you tell us more in this regard?
	A: Sulabh has founded an institute for technical research and
training in 1984 to back up the activities of the parent organisation.
	Sulabh was the first to think of obtaining bio-gas from human
excreta collected in large-size public toilets used by over 500 persons and
more a day. The first such biogas plant was set up in Patna in 1982 after
almost 8 years of research. Sulabh how has 75 such biogas plants operating
in U.P., Bihar, Gujarat, Delhi and other states. The biogas obtained here
can be used to cook food, heat water, lighting street lamps and warming
bodies in winter months.
	Some of the activities here include the development of duckweed
(aquatic plant) based wastewater treatment system, waste disposal systems
and low cost wastewater treatment manure from human excreta, many such
projects which are pioneered by Sulabh.
	Q: And you have also developed a toilet museum in 1994, what was the
inspiration behind this?
	A: Sulabh is a pioneer in the field of sanitation and we have done
extensive research in this area in India. This museum is the only one of its
kind in the world. A smaller museum on this theme exists in Austria. Our
Sulabh museum here in New Delhi has a rare collection detailing objects from
2,500 BC to date, from the Indus Valley civilisation to the contemporary
world. It is also there online at http://www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org
<http://www.sulabhtoiletmuseum.org> .
	The aim to set up a museum of this kind was to educate students
about the historic trends in sanitation both in India and world over. The
objects showcased here help researchers to study the design materials, and
technologies adopted in the past.
	We researched inhouse for literature and photographs and also sent
out letters to over 100 Embassies and High Commissions of different
countries based in New Delhi. We requested them to furnish information on
the subject and also to provide details / photographs of various toilet
designs used in different countries. About 60 Embassies responded and
provided valuable information.
	Sulabh Sanitation Movement
	Sulabh Gram
	Mahavir Enclave, Palam Dabri Road
	New Delhi - 110 045
	Tel: +91 (11) 5032654, 503263
	Email: sulabh1@nde.vsnl.net.in <mailto:sulabh1@nde.vsnl.net.in> ,
sulabh2@nde.vsnl.net.in <mailto:sulabh2@nde.vsnl.net.in> 
	Website: www.sulabhinternational.org
<http://www.sulabhinternational.org> 



------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html