KABUL: India has undertaken a novel reconstruction project here that will directly benefit its citizens — five multi-purpose toilets in busy parts of the city. With 92 out of 100 Afghans being denied sanitary facilities and the population in Kabul having quadrupled after the ouster of the Taliban, this crucial but neglected aspect of everyday life is being addressed by India.

Already 5,000 Afghans have started using the facilities. But the toilets are not based on the usual western pattern. "Such toilets would be 100 times costlier than the ones we have built," says Bin-deshwar Dubey, whose organisation Sulabh International first carried out an extensive awareness programme and built the toilets. Pit latrines and septic tanks fill up and their contents can seep into groundwater, contaminating wells, especially where the water table is close to the surface and where soils are sandy like in Afghanistan, he adds.

A look at the geography of Kabul provides the reason for deviating from the sewer-based toilet concept. The Kabul river is dry and green with grass growing on its bed. Water supply is yet to be restored in many parts Qf the city. The city can ill-afford a sewer system as it consumes six times more water compared to the toilets pioneered by Sulabh.

An added advantage is that the waste is utilised to generate gas. So far only toilet caretakers sit hunched over their stoves, utilising the gas to make their meals as soon as the sun fades to announce the end of the daylong fast during the holy month of Ramzan. But if the cultural conflict over using gas from human waste to cook food does not abate, it can be used to provide electricity for the toilets and heating. That would be a boon for a city where temperatures plunge to below minus 20 degrees centigrade. Last year, most parts of Kabul received electricity for just 2 hours every 4 days, says a Kabul based Indian journalist.

Under strain

The former Mayor of Kabul, Ghulam Sakhi Noorzad, points out that when the city's population was in the region of 10 lakh, the traditional system of carrying out night soil in donkey carts was feasible. But with now at least 45 lakh cramming the city this option is developing severe strains. Moreover, till some time ago human waste fertilise fields around Kabul. With the city enlarging itself, the market for refuse has shrunk.

In contrast, the Sulabh's twin pit system uses veiy little water and there is very little generation of waste. Keeping in view the segregation between men and women, the toilet is a variation of the ones built in India. Separate entrances for both sexes ensure that cultural and social tenets are respected. In the women's section, allowances have been made to provide day care for children.

Good response

Users pay two Afghanis per use. But the influx of customers has surpassed the initial projections. "We thought there would be about 300 users every day. But the actual customer base is over three times, making the toilets self-sustaining," says project coordinator Sushmita Shekhar. Help in popularising the pay-and-use toilets came from the locals. Not only were people at large sensitised to hygiene, some have been trained to construct similar toilets. Soon the technology India developed is poised to touch more lives of Afghanis and at a fraction of the cost and give more benefits than other toilet technologies.

SOURCE:
Sandeep Dikshit
THE HINDU
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2007