In the past few months, men who have been using the restrooms at the Terminal 2 (T2) of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai have probably noticed something different about the urinals. There is no water at these urinals, instead a green chemical is used to flush these loos.
It might look strange to the 90,000 men who set foot in the airport on a daily basis (including its staff) but it is what's keeping the urinals cleaner than ever before.
And this move saves about 1 lakh litres of water every day.
Image for representation. Photo source: Wikimedia
A few months ago, the authorities of one of the busiest airport terminals in India decided to solicit the help of "green chemicals," which are essentially a mix of enzymes and bacteria, rather than resorting to water. Apart from the urinals, the staff also using this mixture to clean the 4 lakh square metres of surface area at the terminal. And it is most likely the first airport in India to adapt this method of cleaning.
A Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson in an interview with the Times of India further elaborates on the cleaning agent noting, "Cleaning compounds that contain ammonia-feeding bacillus spores are instead used in toilets. Lab tests have confirmed that the toilets are cleaner now. We don't use lemongrass or lavender or other such essential oils to mask the smells. The bacteria convert the ammonia generated due to uric acid accumulation to nitrogen, as soon as the toilet is used."
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For now, 200 of the toilets use this as a flushing system, especially the ones designated for men. And in the process deploy hard-working bacteria that never take a day off and work 24/7. The method is eco-friendly. And with tonnes of water being saved, this certainly is a neat idea worth emulating across the country.
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ASHA worker Indira Bhai of Gundagurthi village didn’t just build a toilet for her pregnant daughter Bhagyashree, but set in motion a wave of change in the entire Kalaburgi district.
When Zilla CEO Hephsiba R Kolarpati came to know that Indira Bhai built the toilet in just two days, the impressed CEO organised a baby shower for Bhagyashree’s newborn.
During the baby shower, she announced the programme 'Koosu,' wherein officials will organise a post-delivery baby shower for families that build toilets for their expecting daughters or daughters-in-law.
Image for representation only. Source: by Meena Kadri, via Flickr
According to a report byBangalore Mirror, the programme ‘Koosu’ will emphasise on the health and hygiene of pregnant women.
“Under the programme after ANC registration officials will check for toilet availability or build one, teach the pregnant women about health, hygiene, sanitation and nutrition and educate them about breastfeeding and newborn care. We will celebrate the bump and motherhood through baby showers organised by the gram panchayat,” Kolarpati told BM.
Women representatives will coordinate with the health department and ensure institutional deliveries and then follow up after the delivery.
Kolarpati has lauded Indira Bhai’s efforts and has encouraged other ASHA workers to take such steps. Highlighting the importance of toilets for pregnant women, she pointed out that in the absence of toilets, pregnant women tend to reduce food and water intake, which leads to malnutrition.
Kolarpati had launched another unique campaign titled Understand Sensitize Help Achieve (USHA) as the CEO of Chamarajanaga, which aimed at reaching out to every girl child in the district.
Also read:300 Mumbai Students Worked Every Sunday for 2 Years & Gifted 107 Toilets to a Village!
Featured image credit: Bangalore Mirror
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Akshay Kumar wants you to pay attention to the country's toilets. Or rather, the lack of it to be more specific. The actor, who is known for his philanthropic efforts, has taken to his social media platforms to talk about how as a society, there ought to be more emphasis on sanitation and hygiene.
Through a video, Kumar speaks about how he came across unhealthy facts about the problems millions of Indians face regarding sanitation while doing research for his film, Toilet Ek Prem Katha. Right off the bat, he makes one request from those watching his appeal, "Watch, think and share your views."
He notes, "Despite the fact our country is a super-power, more than half the population, especially women, can't go to toilet when they need it the most because more often than not, they don't even have toilets in their homes."
This becomes a problem for women who sometimes have to force their bodies to act against their own anatomy thus causing health problems down the road. He goes on to explaining that this leads to even the children of the nation getting diseases that would otherwise would be avoidable.
Ultimately, it is time we held ourselves accountable for ensuring every Indian has access to something as basic as clean and hygienic sanitation.
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The actor's plea, has gone viral with the video on Facebook having been viewed 1.7 million times in the span of one day. People have hailed the actor for talking about what could otherwise have been an uncomfortable subject to broach.
Watch the video below:
Soch aur Shauch
Time hai apni #SochAurShauch dono badalne ka. Dekhiye, sochiye aur apne vichar bataiye 🙏🏻
समय है अपनी सोच और शौच दोनों बदलने का। देखिये, सोचिये और अपने विचार बताइये 🙏🏻
Posted by Akshay Kumar on Thursday, March 23, 2017
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The quest to make India open-defecation-free continues. An organisation is contributing to the drive by offering a unique and sustainable solution in Rajasthan’s villages — EcoSan toilets.
Under government initiative 'Swacch Bharat' India is working towards becoming defecation free by 2nd October 2019. In his latest blog entry, Bill Gates highlights the positive impacts of the efforts to achieve this so far.
If you're unhappy with your visit to a public restroom, you could soon be able to give instant feedback directly to government with feedback devices provided by ITI LTD.
In recent years, awareness of waste sanitation in India has heightened thanks to organisations such as Eco Femme and individuals including Arunachalam Muruganantham aka India's 'Menstrual Man.' India however still has a long way to go before an effective, environmentally responsible and health conscious solution becomes widespread.
Imagine using a public toilet along with five thousand villagers or worse, being forced to defecate in the open. This is the reality of Carambolim, a village in the state of Goa, around five kilometres from Old Goa’s World Heritage Site. Carambolim is no ordinary village. It is also home to the famous Carambolim or […]
Ushma Goswami, a SBI youth for India fellow went to a remote village in Mysore to open just a paralegal clinic but ended upbuilding 70 toilets in one year.
These villagers braved death threats, vigilantly drove open defecators away at four in the morning, achieved ODF and are now using human excreta as manure.
Have you ever given a thought to what happens after you flush your toilet? Does a sewer system manage all the waste or is it just dumped somewhere? ‘Buland Babu’ is here to not just educate you, but also raise awareness about the need for human waste treatment that does not come at the cost […]
Sanitation and hygiene in the poorest slums have been a distant dream for far too long. But what happens when one individual takes it upon himself to change the course of life in areas like these? Indian Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a perfect example of how one can make every individual effort count. Mehra’s […]
In 2008 when the jhopadpattis on the pavements of Sewri were demolished, Parveen Sheikh sat by the footpath with her friend Kanta Nada mourning her lost home. Out of 680 homes, according the 1995 election rules, only 280 homes were rehabilitated — Parveen’s home was not on the list. The BMC assured the angered pavement […]
Tired of holding your bladder thanks to lack of toilets in public, or more importantly, hygienically safe toilets in public?
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has partnered with Google on the latter’s toilet locator awareness campaign through which public toilets across Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida zones can be located on Google Maps.
According to The Indian Express, the Google Toilet Locator Awareness Campaign had already been flagged off as a pilot project last year as told by officials at NDMC.
Over 5,000 community toilets and toilets near petrol pumps, railway stations and bus stands have been geo-tagged and are part of the database on Google Maps.
Reportedly, the campaign had emerged as an imminent resort to tackle the never-ending crisis of open defecation and urination across the country by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) last year.
Though the initial reports had been about piloting the campaign across the National Capital Region or NCR, the talks have been going on about scaling and expanding the project across other cities after receiving feedback from users in the region.
The toilets falling under the NDMC region can also be located using the NDMC Mobile App — NDMC311.
“The civic body is in the process of launching smart toilets across the region that will come attached with facilities like ATMs, rooftop solar panel, sanitary pad vending machine, digital health clinic and online user feedback tablet. A total of 109 smart toilets are being constructed,” Naresh Kumar, who is the chairperson of NDMC, told The Indian Express.
As part of a campaign to make Maharashtra’s Osmanabad district open defecation free, over 10,000 pits have been dug in a single day by local villagers to allow for the construction of as many toilets to begin in the next seven days.
Braving monsoon rains, villagers of the district worked together for 18 hours to complete the unprecedented feat which aims to bring proper hygiene and sanitation to the district’s 621 villages.
Photo for representation purposes only. Source: Flickr
The toilet pit drive inches the district closer to October 2, the target date set aside for the completion of the campaign and the last time local villagers use open spaces as human-waste grounds.
Everyone, from Zilla Parishad President, Vice President, elected members, officers, Zilla Parishad employees, social workers, all Block Development Officers, Sarpanches and all those at grass root level took an active role in digging the pits.
Zilla Parishad official, Hanumant Gadge, told NDTV, “People of Osmanabad indeed have made the Clean India Mission into a mass movement. Every person is enthusiastic about contributing their bit towards cleanliness and sanitation, and this can be seen with the kind of self-involvement we have witnessed in the last few months.
The scheme is part of the `Marathwada Hagandari Mukt Sangram’ (Marathwada campaign for eradication of open defecation) which had been launched on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, the Marathi new year. The campaign has devised a number of incentives to garner interest and involvement from the locals including a ‘Build A Toilet And Visit Singapore’ initiative.
As per the incentive, 32 villagers will be selected through a lottery system, and the chosen ones will be sent to Singapore on an all-expense paid trip. The only criteria they need to fulfill is to build a toilet at home. The results are set to be announced on the campaign’s completion day.
When Gondappa’s son reached the age of five, he walked with his hands on the ground and feet in the air to the temple of the village Goddess in Thesgora, Madhya Pradesh. A host of villagers accompanied the man to celebrate the survival of the first child who reached the age of five, in a village known for the highest cases of diarrhoea in India.
According to a WHO report, India has the highest number of Under 5 mortality in the world with an estimated 1.2 million deaths in 2015 – 20 per cent of the 5.9 million global deaths.
Children promoting safe hand wash.
“The most rampant causes for the rising Under 5 mortality rate in India include unsafe washing practices and open defecation,” says Paresh Kumar, founder of DevInsights, a Delhi-based Research, Monitoring and Evaluation private company.
In an innovative solution to drive behavioral change and attain social development, Paresh’s company came up with an model called Music 4 Development or M4D.
Conceptualisation
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the Swachch Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014, the aim was to ensure a clean India by 2019. The mission saw numerous bureaucrats, politicians and celebrities promoting cleanliness activities.
A major course of action consisted of allocation of funds to build toilets around the nation. But mere construction of toilets isn’t enough, thinks Paresh. “Construction may be the first step, but the key is ensuring the usage of those toilets. Many a times, it doesn’t come naturally for most people who’ve never lived with that kind of infrastructure,” he says.
The challenge then is to drive behavioral change by encouraging people to not litter streets, build and use latrines in their houses and educate their children and neighbours about the significance of hand-washing.
Children assemble for the launch.
Music 4 Development believes in achieving this by engaging communities through music.
Talking about the conceptualisation of the behavior change model, Paresh says, “In 2015, we were writing a book on water sanitation and hygiene wash, where they was a chapter on communications. We conducted robust and in-depth research into the existing communication models being used in the country. And we realised that most of them were cliche methods of mass communication, where either a big celebrity was taken on board or only interpersonal communication was bestowed to frontline workers like the ones from Asha and Anganwadi. Eventually what happens is, behavior change does not take place.”
They started brainstorming different innovative models that would hit the right chords of their target group which included rural India and urban slum dwellers. An in-depth literature review on the impact of music led to the concept of Music 4 Development.
“Music has immense power. I am a music composer and writer myself. I started questioning myself about why I don’t utilise both skills to bring about an innovation? That’s how Music 4 Development came about. It is a unique combination of science and art. A marriage of behavioral science and the art of music to produce social change and development.”
The uniqueness of the concept of M4D is – it believes in making children the agents of change. “Changing the behavior of an adult is way difficult as compared to a child. Giving you a simple analogy – all of us know smoking is injurious to health; it’s even written on the packet. But we still continue smoking. This happens when the communication model is ineffective and does not hit the audience,” says Paresh.
Paresh believes that children, as against adults, have an innate power – the ‘pestering’ power, he calls it. If the child continues to pester, he/she can bring about the desired change in behavior.
Session on WASH
“The intervention happens at the school level where children are targeted and where they themselves act as agents of change. When you catch them young, you can be sure that they’ll understand and absorb the message better and retain this behaviour for a longer time as compared to adults,” says Paresh.
Just how Mozart’s music was used in the past to direct appropriate behaviour among young offenders and punk rock used as a strong tool for communicating, rebelling and empowering women, M4D aims to effect sustainable change in behavior.
Every song is constructed based on thorough research where a team of dedicated researchers visits the target area to understand the current knowledge, attitude, behavior and practices. These include their likes, dislikes, lifestyles, interests, preferences, etc.
“Children have strong likes and dislikes, and they are extremely honest about it in our focus group discussions. The effort is to create music that the children of a particular region are familiar with. So, the songs don’t seem foreign and easily position themselves in the mind of the child,” says Paresh.
These songs are then sung by children accompanied by a few adults. The idea is not heavy duty messaging. The lyrics strictly promote and emphasise key WASH behaviours. They are routinely played in the school. The top priority is recalling it and ensuring it is enjoyable. And yet making sure it doesn’t overshadow the lesson. The lyrics are playful, informative and easy to grasp for any young child.
“We developed this model by utilising our time, money and resources. We did try to raise funds, but two factors did not work in our favour – the fact that we were using music sung by children sounded kiddish to a lot of people we pitched the plan to. Also since we are a private organisation, not many were interested in taking the project on board,” says Paresh.
Tables turned when DevInsights pitched the concept to the Aga Khan foundation, who were looking at doing something new. “We explained the model to them and they saw merit in it. They supported us in terms of giving us an opportunity to work with their schools in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. They told us to pilot our concept there and see the results.”
The pilot was conducted in 6 government schools. The songs were widely accepted by the children and one could always see a group of students singing along, memorising the lyrics and dancing to them.
A girl sings the song on open-defecation
“The teachers were very instrumental, cooperative and participative. They expressed how the model was making their work a lot easier. That’s the beauty and power of music. The children have started not only internalising it, but are also trying to translate this knowledge and practice to their families and community at large,” shares Paresh.
Impact
Paresh’s team conducted a detailed monitoring and impact report on three schools to track toilet usage.
“Three months ago the baseline data in these schools displayed that only 5 per cent of the students used toilets in the school. With our M4D behavior communication model in place, the endline has shown a rise as high as 90%,” says Paresh.
He believes that the successfully piloted model can be replicated into different settings, sectors and geographies. It is a low-cost model, as the only expense includes music production. The songs can be played in the entire district to drive change because the language in which it is sung is common to the masses.
“The model could be used to create awareness not just about safe WASH practices, but also menstrual hygiene, breastfeeding, malnutrition, complementary feeding and a host of other issues that fall in the purview of health,” he says.
Researchers of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, have achieved another feat by innovating a low-cost dirt detector that will soon open up the possibility of keeping public facilities clean and hygienic at all times.
Reportedly, the device can be placed at places where cleanliness needs to be monitored on a regular basis.The smart hygiene monitor (SHM) can record the levels of ammonia, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter with the help of sensors. It also sends online alerts to stakeholders as and when the prognostic threshold gets crossed.
This will be a boon for maintaining hygiene at public facilities like toilets, hospitals, eating joints, parks, railway stations, and airports that are cleaned only once in a while.
The research team behind the development of the device was headed by Aurobinda Routray, a professor in the Electrical Engineering department of the institute.
While explaining how the implementation of the device will be significant towards reducing water, harmful cleaning agents, and even labour, Aurobinda said that the authorities will only be alerted for cleaning the premises when the need arises.
“This monitor using sensors detects the level of hygiene in a room and through cloud sends data to the stakeholders,” he told The Economic Times.
Aurobinda also mentioned that the installation cost for a 20sq. ft. area would amount up to ₹5,000.
While the device has been created with a sensor-embedded platform that is connected via Internet of Things (IoT), the threshold level in each sensor has been fixed as per the deemed air quality index levels set by SAFAR-India (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research).
“Once these threshold levels are exceeded, an email alert will be sent via the cloud to the administrative office indicating the room condition as well as the need to clean it. Simultaneously, an alert will be sent to the concerned cleaning person stating the location of the room that needs to be cleaned,” Aurobinda explained.
Additionally, for each room equipped with the facility, a data analytics report featuring the real-time levels of pollutants will be available online and will be accessible for concerned authorities.
Equipped with light indicators, the model will help users remain up-to-date about the cleanliness status of the room. Like a traffic signal, the green light would indicate ‘clean space’ while red would imply that the space requires cleaning.
“Often in the metro airports or malls, you will find that cleaners mechanically go on cleaning toilets and other areas at stipulated intervals, even on low footfall days. This not only results in wastage of water and other cleaning resources, but also leads to overuse of cleaning chemicals, which have environmental ramifications. By using this solution in such places can reduce wastage,” Aurobinda added.
Currently, a lab prototype of SHM will undergo multiple levels of field trials that will help evaluate its efficiency.
You can reach out to Aurobinda Routray at aroutray@ee.iitkgp.ernet.in .
The Coconut Garden Residents Welfare Association (RWA) is an informal body of residents in Nagarbhavi, Bangalore, and comprises around 130 houses. As is with most of the RWAs, the work of the association with its dedicated team is to ensure water supply, internal road work, tackling problems of electricity, cleanliness, helping with documentation and organising cultural activities. The association strives for the overall welfare of its residents, who are quite active and enthusiastically participate in the programmes.
One such programme, which was organised in June, was different than the rest – the annual day. For the first time, the association and its members thought it fit to honour the pourakarmikas, or the municipal sanitary workers, employed by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). This was in recognition of their hard work throughout the year. The residents were aware that their health, to a large extent, depended on the cleanliness of the locality. So, this was the least that they could do for the people who kept it clean.
The idea of honouring the pourakarmikas came from the residents itself, who discussed it during a committee meeting.
Municipal sanitary workers were honoured at this event in a Bengaluru society.
There were 10 pourakarmikas – five men and five women – along with their supervisor, all of whom were publicly honoured. All the pourakarmikas were invited to the stage to a loud applause.
The workers received a ‘Certificate of Appreciation’, a fruit basket, ₹500 cash and new clothes. It was a very emotional moment for them. Some of them expressed how it was the first time someone had appreciated their work.
“We have been working in the colony for more than 10 years and hardly has anybody spoken us. Whenever they did talk, it was usually to complain. For the first time in our life, we feel proud, we feel recognised, and have felt a sense of identity,” said one of them. “We can live in poverty but not with abuses and insults. We are very, very happy at this kind gesture,” said another worker.
When the idea of honouring the pourakarmikas was discussed, it was whole-heartedly agreed by the association. The celebration ended with dinner for the workers, who ate with the residents. It was an unforgettable day for both. The association plans to organise more such programmes in the future.
A feeling of achievement, a sense of fulfillment – such was the impact that now the residents want to take it forward by discussing any problems that the pourakarmikas face regarding their children’s education, so that they can offer help
Sanitation and hygiene in the poorest slums have been a distant dream for far too long. But what happens when one individual takes it upon himself to change the course of life in areas like these? Indian Filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is a perfect example of how one can make every individual effort count.
Mehra’s film — Mere Pyare Prime Minister – revolves around four kids living in a Mumbai slum, one of whom wants to build a toilet for his single mother and makes an appeal to the Prime Minister.
But while making films about social issues spread awareness, much remains to be done. Mehra believes in putting his ideas into action. So he took it upon himself to build over 800 toilets in the slum that he’s been shooting the film at for the past four years.
Not only is he revamping the slums by building toilets, he’s also making sure they are maintained well.
“We’ve been having meetings with slum-dwellers and corporators of the area, urging them to put Rs. 1 in the donation box so that the community workers can be given their dues,” he told DNA.
He states that Gandhi’s model toilets at the Sabarmati Ashram inspired him. The biggest hurdle in his way was the authorisation of Mumbai slums, as they are built on unauthorised plots of land owned by BMC and don’t have pipelines or water connections.
He began filming in a slum in Ghatkopar after which the BMC gave him an NOC to build 20 toilets there, including five separate toilets for men and women, and also teachers in two municipal schools in the Khandooba area. The project worked in collaboration with NGO, Yuva Unstoppable.
“The slum dwellers have TV sets and mobile phones but no toilets and during the monsoons are forced to defecate on the railway tracks. I remember reading a Mirror story about a woman who got run over while defecating on the tracks and wondered, `Is a toilet worth losing your life over?” Mehra asked in an interview with India Samvad.
Mehra’s humility reflects in his silent contribution. Hats off to filmmakers like Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra who are striving to be the change!
Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter. Click here to get positive news on WhatsApp!
Image for representation. Photo source: Wikimedia
A few months ago, the authorities of one of the busiest airport terminals in India decided to solicit the help of "green chemicals," which are essentially a mix of enzymes and bacteria, rather than resorting to water. Apart from the urinals, the staff also using this mixture to clean the 4 lakh square metres of surface area at the terminal. And it is most likely the first airport in India to adapt this method of cleaning.
A Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson in an interview with the Times of India further elaborates on the cleaning agent noting, "Cleaning compounds that contain ammonia-feeding bacillus spores are instead used in toilets. Lab tests have confirmed that the toilets are cleaner now. We don't use lemongrass or lavender or other such essential oils to mask the smells. The bacteria convert the ammonia generated due to uric acid accumulation to nitrogen, as soon as the toilet is used."
Image for representation only. Source: by 
