Tiger Worm Toilets pilot under way in Udupi district

Udupi: Tiger Worm Toilets (TWT) for communal sanitation are emerging as technically sound solutions and income generating too. They’re affordable, sustainable solutions for areas which don’t have sewerage. As a pilot project, the district has put in place 100 toilets, including 50 at Kadthala gram panchayat. And gram panchayats at Ambalpadi, Warranga and Alevooru together have 50 toilets.
A TWT uses earthworms for safe, quick and efficient decomposition of human waste in pit latrines, helping the units last longer. TWTs also generate manure which can be sold commercially or used in farms. The Udupi district, in association with the central government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Rural), Udupi zilla panchayat and Power Over company, started the pilot at Ashokan Nagar, Mullajalu, Darbuje and Golipalke areas in Kadthala gram panchayat, Karkala taluk. When the project was mooted, 50 villagers expressed interest in it.
"These toilet pits are 4ft deep and the technology used in the unit protects water resources from being contaminated. Apart from not polluting and contaminating water bodies, TWTs are far more effective than septic tanks. The earthworms efficiently decompose human waste in pit latrines and the water is purified. The decomposition turns human waste into vermin compost. Hence, the pit can be used for about 12 years," said Raghunath, director, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Udupi.
Kadla Panchayat Development Officer Farzana said: "The waste is converted into fertilizer. The family can inform the GP and it will inform the company which come and clear it. The fertilizer won’t have a foul smell and can be used in cultivation of vegetables and flowers.”
The TWTS were first tried by the charity Oxfam in slums in Liberian capital of Monrovia in 2013, and were later installed in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Myanmar. “Tiger worms reproduce faster with more poo they have to feed off... so they are self-sustaining,” Andy Bastable, Oxfam’s head of water and sanitation, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Awareness programme
The Udupi director of the Swachh Bharat Mission explained the use and maintenance of TWTs. It included environmental protection with water resource conservation. If beneficiaries face any difficulties, they can inform the gram panchayat which will help fix the issue.
(Additional inputs
from Reuters)