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

[Rajkamal Goswami]

>  Dear Kashmendra,
>
>
>
> Thanks for the valuable insights and the cases. What appalls me is the
> complete lack of empathy for the marginalized sections of the society &
> targeting them for all the problems of the socio-environment sphere.
>
>
>
> Classic example is the cry-out of the western world ( and doles of World
> Bank soft loans) to replace wood-based fuel with LPG in the poorer sections.
> The justification being that less dependence on wood-more trees-more natural
> carbon sequestration & less global warming-arresting climate change. And
> what is more appalling & also frustrating is the extraordinary eagerness
> shown by our executive to grab this dole-outs! I have personally seen how
> LPG distribution to far-flung tribal settlements in Mizoram state was
> carried out with lot of pomp & show by the NTCA (erstwhile Project Tiger).
> 3 months down the line & all that was left was empty cylinders & dusty
> gas-stoves! Reason? Because there were only mud roads connecting these
> forest settlements to the nearest small town ( 30kms away) with no regular
> transport. Hence the cylinders never got refilled & the villagers went back
> to the fuel wood which was right there, in their backyard!
>
>
>
> In the20 year old debate about climate change & reduction of GHGs, there
> has been absolutely no talk about a section of our country who has, on an
> average, more than one car at disposal. During peak hours it is common to
> see sedans & suvs just having a driver! How many initiatives has been taken
> by the executive to address these issues? How much thought has gone to
> streamline & improve the PTS on a countrywide scale? I hail from a very
> small town called Tezpur, which is about 200 kms east of Guwahati, on the
> north bank of Brahmaputra. I have seen the sleepy town with a few cycles,
> cycle-rickshaws & a handful of mobikes & cars (we knew how many of them were
> there), transform to a mini traffic chaos! Almost every second guy has a
> mobike & every sixth one a car! And during peak hours you can see one-way
> no-entry signs which is no-entry only for the cycle-rickshaws! While the
> smoky cars & the bikes trudges along!
>
>
>
> Just a couple of first hand-cases to exemplify the blame that is being
> passed (almost always) on the socio-economically poor &  marginalized.  And
> that’s how and where the state fails!
>
>
>
>
>
> thanks
>
>
>
> *Rajkamal Goswami,*
>
> *
>
> *
>
> *From:* Kshmendra Kaul [mailto:kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com]
> *Sent:* Thursday, October 15, 2009 3:34 PM
> *To:* sarai list; rajkamal; Rajkamal Goswami
> *Subject:* Re: [Reader-list] 665 million in India defecate in open: UN
>
>
>
> 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
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net<http://us.mc572.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=reader-list-request@sarai.net>with subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
>
>