Over thee crore toilets have been constructed across the country. (Express)
As crores of toilet blocks are constructed across India as part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, making toilet usage a sustainable solution in the long run has been a challenge for authorities. There have been several reports about the newly-constructed toilets being used for other purposes, including for storing grains. Now, a pilot project in Pune aims to resolve this issue, by offering an incentive to local residents to use the toilets.
Explaining the project, Assistant Collector of Khed taluka, Ayush Prasad, said it was based on harvesting the decomposed night soil from twin pit toilets and using it as manure. “In rural areas, the Abhiyan promotes construction of twin pit toilets, which allow complete decomposition of night soil into manure. Our project will involve commercial usage of this manure and paying the householder to harvest the same,” he said.
In the preliminary stage, the manure was tested in a field owned by the Rajgurunagar-based Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research and the results showed a nine-fold increase in yields. Scientists of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) are now trying to devise means to improve the quality of the manure, said Prasad.
Under the project, a farmer producer company will be entrusted with the work of harvesting the manure, treating it and selling it to floriculturists. “Surveys are being undertaken to identify twin pit toilets that were constructed and in use between 2010-2013. In the first phase, we will harvest the manure from these pits,” said Prasad. The pilot project is expected to be rolled out in October.
Jayant Deshpande, state sanitation consultant of UNICEF, said the scheme will incentivise the usage of toilets. “If a monetary incentive is provided, the households will continue using the toilets and take care of its upkeep,” he said.
Under the flagship programme of the central government, district administrations provide both household as well as community toilets in urban and rural areas.
Government figures reveal that the total number of toilets constructed across the nation is more than 3 crore. Maharashtra was recently declared open-defecation free (ODF), with almost 70 per cent toilet usage being reported. The National Rural Sanitation Survey has put the toilet usage across the country at around 93.4 per cent.