Nearly 80 per cent of the country’s population still either defecate in open or use unsanitary bucket latrines or smelly public toilets as per one estimate. This is true even in urban areas where hardly 20 per cent of the population has access to water/flush toilets connected to a sewerage system and only 14 per cent enjoy water-borne toilets connected to septic tanks or leach pits. In rural areas a mere 3 per cent of the population has access to sanitary toilets. This lack of adequate sanitation is responsible for severe health problems. Cholera, dysentery, typhoid, Para-typhoid, infectious hepatitis and many other diseases can be traced to the unsanitary disposal of human excreta. Lack of sanitation also has grave social consequences; the need to have ‘night soil’ removed has given rise to the profession of ’scavenging’ or collecting it from bucket latrines, the streets and other locations. Though, this practice has been banned and the Indian Constitution bans the segregation of those who service this profession, there are many pockets in the country where the practice continues unabated. 

The man behind Sulabh

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder of Sulabh International Social Organisation, was born on April 2, 1943 in a respectable Brahmin family of village Rampur Baghel in Vaishali district of Bihar. After college education and some odd jobs that came his way, he joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation) cell of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee in 1968 and he was intimately exposed to the problems of scavengers in India. Dr. Pathak travelled all over the country, visited and lived with scavengers in their bastis, studied their habits and social mores - he did his Ph. D. on scavenging - their history and geographical spread to eventually declare that scavengers were a special class united in their miseries and social degradation. "Let us save them from squalid conditions and in doing so we’ll be saving the national conscience", Dr. Pathak said. Significantly, it was not a mere emotional outburst of young Dr. Pathak, who by that time had fully equipped himself intellectually to construct an irrefutable thesis on the subject. He knew that slogans alone will not help and, hence, developed a technology which has become a credible alternative to scavenging in India. Dr. Pathak sought to abolish scavenging not only out of sympathy for scavengers but also out of the belief that it is a primitive, expensive and unhygienic practice which may create an explosive situation in which case a highly dissatisfied group will turn lumpen and work to destroy the social system. For that matter, the Sulabh Movement is different from other social movements: it is an indigenous concept based on experience and tested scientifically, combining in itself an appropriate technology and demand for social morality. In simpler words, while other movements identified problems and injustices in society but failed to find solutions, Dr. Pathak identified problems, developed a self-sustaining system, gave an appropriate technology and, finally, solved the problem.

A technological breakthrough

Septic tank, an alternative on-site sanitation system was introduced in India about 150 years back but hardly 20% of the houses have septic tank latrines. But, Septic Tank had many drawbacks. Safe disposal of its effluent poses a problem.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak studied the various designs and researches carried out in India and abroad and evolved a suitable option to serve as an alternative to bucket privies, popularly known as Sulabh Shauchalaya - pourflush water seal latrine with twin pits for on-site disposal of human waste - in 1970. Sulabh Shauchalaya as developed by him is the most appropriate technological option to serve as an alternative to bucket privies and to stop open-air defecation.  It can be constructed in the most congested areas of cities and towns. Sustainability and replicability are two important issues, which should be considered while choosing an appropriate technology. Sulabh Shauchalaya fulfils these criteria entirely. It is socio-culturally acceptable, affordable, easily available and users are able to operate and maintain it easily.  It is an indigenous technology and the toilet can easily be constructed using local labour and materials. It provides all the health benefits by safe disposal of human excreta on-site, which sewerage provides. It is pourflush and requires only 2 litres of water for flushing, thus conserves water. However, if desired it can be cistern flush also. It does not need the services of scavengers to clean the pits.  When one pit is full, excreta is diverted to the second pit. In about two years rest period, the sludge gets digested and is almost dry and becomes safe for handling. Sulabh Shauchalaya does not need a vent pipe as gases are dispersed into the soil.  It can be constructed on the upper floors of the buildings also. It has a high potential of upgradation, can be easily connected to sewers when introduced in the area.  Sulabh Shauchalaya can be designed with different specifications and use of different materials in varied costs without compromising the design principles.  Thus the need of families with different income can be met easily. The ‘Sulabh’ technology can be implemented easily in different socio cultural and economic set ups and in different physical, geological and hydro geological situations.

Sulabh in Mumbai

If you have your bladder full and are looking for a urinal anywhere in the western /central suburbs of Mumbai, you may cross your legs and squirm or use Sulabh Shauchalayas and invite many a trouble. Says Kaustubh Deshpande, a student who uses the Sulabh Shauchalaya outside Sion station twice a day, "It is really unhygienic and the area stinks all the time. There should be a some regular cleaning here to eradicate this menance." At risk is health of the so many commuters as well as children of the area. Reasonably clean when compared to the BMC toilets, still these private toilets have no takers. Sudhakar, manning the Sulabh shauchalaya outside Bandra station said that on an average only 5-6 people used the toilet everyday.  “Though we charge only Re 1 for using the loo, still users are reluctant to pay when demanded. They don’t understand that they are being charged for maintenance and they often indulge in minor quarrels,” he said. “The biggest problem is of manning the toilets. Some users have this uncanny instinct of picking up any thing they can lay their hands on. In many cases there have been theft of rods and pipes and even water taps. One gentleman walked away with the electricity bulb,” he said. Inspite of the low maintenance of the Sulabh shauchalaya across the country, there are thousands who depend on these public urinals to answer their nature’s call. Thee Government of India and State Governments are very much concerned about the sanitation situation in the country. People’s perception has to be changed. Sulabh along with many other NGOs are actively involved in helping the Government to achieve its objective of improving the sanitation condition in India.

Sulabh Shauchalaya with its features and facilities has taken a step in the right direction and now its upto the other NGOs and the citizens to come forward and join the crusade.

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