Wednesday 19 October 2016

The need to look deeper into Sanitation

To all the government departments and NGOs that are building toilets to save the earth.

My village may not be 'typical'. The villages here in Raayalseema are usually small caste based hamlets of 50-100 houses and there are fields around. Much larger villages start approximating towns and need different strategies.

In 10-15 years I have seen no real issue with the open defecation being pracrtised. At home we dug twin pits which could be used alternately (while the other 'composted'), and these pit latrines were quite ideal also.

The toilets which have been provided under govt schemes are in disuse because (1) people see no need (2) water is an issue.

These issues are very space specific, and I am not generalizing. But I am strongly objecting to the generalizings I see. On all fronts.

@Dunu Roy commented on an article.
October 19, 2014 at 3:56pm ·
Firstly, don't confuse waste management with open defecation - the two are NOT the same.
Secondly, there is NO evidence that open defecation results in higher rates of disease. None of your panelists has been produce evidence about that because there is none. If that had been so, then India would have the highest rate of disease and death in the world - it doesn't.
Thirdly, the BEST 'scientific' way for poo to degenerate is to expose it to sunlight and air, putting it down into a dark sewer or hole in the ground, along with substantial amounts of water, is the WORST way for it to decompose. (Which incidentally, is what the redoubtable government party spokesperson refers to by saying that earlier Indians - not just Hindoos - using to carry 'khurpis' [or tiny spades] while going out into the open, basically dig a small hole in the ground and to cover the turd with a thin layer of soil so that it does not come into contact with flies].
Fourthly and finally, therefore, the 'social awakening' is not required on the part of the masses but a little modicum of 'scientific thinking' on the part of these people who get on to television screens and talk more crap than is being delivered from the sky.
 
Prakash Thangavel Open defecated faeces decomposes within hours if you cover it with loose soil. Have been doing it for months now and soil quality has changed for the better...
 
Aparna Krishnan NGOs sell sanitation for their own survival, much of the time. The government sells it to divert from its multiple failures.


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