[Reader-list] 665 million in India defecate in open: UN

[Kshmendra Kaul]

Dear Rajkamal
 
Very interesting perspectives.
 
A few thoughts, not meant to criticise:
 
Traditionally, in Agriculture, in many parts of the world (if not all), human excreta, after composting has been used as a manure. Certainly in India and China. The word "Humanure" has been coined for it.
 
The native wisdom in how to process the "Humanure" has given way in some places to "Thermphilic composting" and commercial selling of the "Humanure".
 
I think the problem comes up in such situations where the recycling of human excreta cannot be done in a manner to make it an integral part of the living environment.
 
We have in India the additional 'social' dimension where human excreta collecting "sweepers" are not afforded the dignity of their labour and are instead treated as untouchables.  
 
You might have heard of the 'strangulation by weeds' of the Lakes in Kashmir. This change in what were pristine water bodies for many a centuries has been attributed (amongst other factors) to the dumping of human excreta into them from the "Houseboats" and what is flushed into them from the residences along the shores. 
 
"Dry Toilets" (Self-Composting Toilets) have been proposed to tackle this. These are already used in many places such as Construction-Work Sites, Camp Sites. (any questions about affordabilty would be very valid)
 
There is no doubt in this that when the human excreta is not treated/re-cycled/composted, it becomes a breeding site for disease with various available means of transmission. This is exactly what happens in Non-Agricultural, Non-Farming environments of Towns and Cities (urban areas).
 
An essential part of any competent Urban Planning is inclusion of Sewage Treatment Plants that recycle the water for use in Municipal and Residential Landscaping (Household and not Industrial Sewage) and compost the filtered waste into Manure.
 
Just a few thoughts.
 
Kshmendra
 


--- On Thu, 10/15/09, Rajkamal Goswami <rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Rajkamal Goswami <rajkamalgoswami at gmail.com>
Subject: [Reader-list] 665 million in India defecate in open: UN
To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>, "rajkamal" <rajkamal at atree.org>
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009, 10:28 AM


665 million in India defecate in open: UN
http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/15/in-india-665-million-defecate-in-open-un.htm
<http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/15/in-india-665-million-defecate-in-open-un.htm>I
strongly oppose this westernized view of sanitation & hygiene.



Defecating in the open is not just a hygienic issue but a socio-cultural,
historical, economic, political & environmental issue. The point of
contention being that health is jeopardized due to open-defecation is highly
ridiculous. I argue that its failure of the state which is primarily
responsible for the poor health rather than the prevalent defecation
practices.



1.        Many cultures & society across India has age-old tradition of
defecating in the open. Most parts where open defecation is practiced are
parts with water scarcity & low rainfall. There are many community
defecating practices which are of special significance to many, particularly
women as a social-bonding exercise. For eg, in many parts of northern India,
women go out in groups early at dawn to relieve themselves out in the open
and socialize with other woman from the village, who otherwise can’t
socialize because of restrictive customs like *purdah/ghoongat*.



2.      Nomadic man never defecated in closed toilets! Even the forefathers
of Hispanics & the Caucasians, who are the so-called ‘developed’ human race
today, did defecate in the open.



3.       We assume that access to toilets is economically driven. In many
parts of Tamil Nadu, Bihar, UP & MP this assumption doesn’t hold true.



4.      When the government & non-government run toilets charges something
ranging from 1-10 INR to use toilets, whom can we blame for open toilets? A
case example is Bangalore where the frequency of even paid toilets are very
low (1 per 5 kms) & moreover there locations are haphazard and ad-hoc. In
some locations we find 2-3 toilets whereas in a few places there are none.
And the hygienic conditions of these toilets are worse than open toilets, to
say the least! So if you choose to use public toilets instead of open ones,
you might end up paying to get sick!



5.      From environmental perspective, open toilets are way better then the
plush toilets with toilet papers and other fancy stuff.  In India there are
numerous coprophagous animals like dogs, pigs that eat the fecal matter. The
climatic conditions also ensure that the feces decompose fast. Fecal matters
also support a large microbial & insect biodiversity. Climate change experts
should swear by defecation in the open as the most carbon-unfriendly way
with zero carbon foot-print & zero GHG emission. Using water to clean is the
second best option while using toilet paper is the most environmentally
harmful way as paper manufacturing industry is highly water-intensive & has
large carbon footprint.



6.      The initial capital as well as environmental costs of building
toilets is high with large carbon-footprints. Sewers and septic tanks
accumulate wastes and dump them at point locations, which might not be able
to handle such high magnitudes of in-flow. Open toilets ensure that such
bulk flow doesn’t take place & before the eventual drainage a substantially
large amount is anyway decomposed.



7.      The UN is highlighting the wrong issue. The main issue of a poor
health condition is not because we defecate in the open but because health
like other essential services viz. roadways, railways, water, education is
primarily a state responsibility and the state, even after 60+ years of self
rule, has failed to ensure the distribution of these services across social,
economic & geographic strata & sections.

regards,

RAJKAMAL,
-- 
Rajkamal Goswami
PhD Student in Conservation Science
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)
Royal Enclave, Sri Ramapura, Jakkur P.O.
Bangalore 560 064 Karnataka, India.
Phone: 080-23635555, extn: 207
Mobile: 09740362460
Fax: 91 80 2353 0070

Web: www.atree.org
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