Sanitation Champion

By: Sharada Adhikari/ Friday, 22 April 2011

Kathmandu: "People talk a lot about philosophies and dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, but do nothing to make his dream come true. Gandhi wanted a clean India first, even before independence, and I am working to fulfill this dream of his,” expressed Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, a humanist and social reformer of contemporary India, and the man behind Sulabh toilets.

A sociologist by profession, Dr. Pathak began his work on sanitation and environmental cleanliness four decades ago with a campaign to elevate the social status of scavengers who cleaned pit latrines and carried the night soil on their heads.

Radical start

In the decade of 1960s, it was cultural taboo for a person from a Brahmin family to talk about toilet. Born into a respectable Brahmin family in Bihar, he joined the Gandhi Centenary Committee that was formed to celebrate the birth centenary of Mahatma Gandhi in 1968. He went and lived in colonies of scavengers for three months during that period when he was exposed to the problems of scavengers in India.

“Scavengers, regarded as the untouchable groups in community, were forced to collect excreta,” recalled Dr. Pathak who sought to abolish scavenging while improving the sanitation situation of India. As a revolt against this unproductive practice of cleaning excreta manually, Dr. Pathak vowed to bring an end to this practice through union of theoretical and practical approach which gave birth to the concept of Sulabh Sauchalaya.

Through the odds

“My father and my relatives were upset with me when I decided to work in the sector of sanitation,” stated Dr. Pathak who had to borrow money from his friends to fulfill his basic needs, slept on railway plat forms and went hungry many times. “People defecated openly and women suffered a lot due to this. There was very dismal picture of sanitation,” shared Dr. Pathak who used to give talks on sanitation and use of toilets. “But in many places, I would be forewarned not to talk about these issues as they were regarded as cultural taboos,“ said Dr. Pathak, who however was determined to achieve his dream.

A technological breakthrough

“To develop a suitable technology backed by social engineering was the most challenging demand of that time,” informed Dr. Pathak who had to educate people about the technology after its establishment. He designed a two-pit pour flush latrine system and in stalled it in the house of a person in Ara of Bihar in 1973. He introduced two public toilets in the Muslim community of Ara.

Since then he has been expanding his innovation, which has brought about a revolution in the field of sanitation. The organisation Sulabh International Social Service Organisation founded by Dr. Pathak has established 1.2 million such Sulabh toilets at household levels and 200 bio-gas plants in India while five public toilets with bio-gas plant in Kabul of Afghanistan. The organisation has constructed 150 public toilets and bathrooms complexes with VIP facilities.

Following the rapid adoption of Sulabh technology of pour-flush toilet system, more than 120,000 scavengers were resettled into other professions, which was made possible by converting bucket latrines into Sulabh toilets. His work earned him the 2007 Energy Globe Award, Indira Gandhi Award for Environment, Global 500 Roll of Honour Award by UNEP, Scroll of Honour by UN Habitat and Padma Bhushan for distinguished social service.

Environ-friendly technology

Expensive systems like sewerage and septic tanks are not cost-effective and environment-friendly, due to which Dr Pathak came up with the idea of Sulabh technology in 1970s. “This low-cost toilet technology made people of village and town scavenging free. In the septic tank system one needs almost 10 litres of water to flush human excreta per use,” in formed Dr. Pathak.

The Sulabh technology is very simple which consists of two pits and a water seal. One pit is used at a time and the other is kept on standby. When the first one fills up, the excreta is switched over to another pit. After two years, the human excreta gets converted into manure in the first pit. “A 12 mm water seal requires one litre of water per flush while 20 mm water seal requires 1.5 litres of water. It saves enormous quantity of t water,” argued Dr. Pathak.

Meanwhile the manure can be taken out from the pit by anyone without involving scavengers. As there is no concrete bottom in the pit, gases are absorbed by the soil. “It thus prevents mixing of methane gas into the atmosphere further preventing climate change and global warming,” added Dr. Pathak. The other technology developed by him is human excreta based biogas technology with effluent system linked to public toilets. “The bio gas produced is used for cooking and as a supply to street lights,” he revealed.

Future plans

“We have a plan to introduce Sulabh technology in 50 countries in five years,” Dr. Pathak who was in the Capital to make necessary arrangements for the National Sanitation Action Week and World Environment Day to be held in Nepal in June. “I had proposed installing this model in the Pashupati area to Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal, who responded positively,” informed Dr. Pathak, whose ultimate goal is to help the world achieve the Millennium Development Goal by 2015 according to which half of the population in the world has to be provided with a flush toilet.

Primary Source: The Himalayan Times, April 22, 2011

Secondary Source: NGO Foru, April 22, 2011