Prioritising Disaster-Resilient and Ecologically Sustainable Sanitation Technology

Eklavya Prasad

The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) officially launched the Swachhta Hi Seva (SHS) 2024 campaign on September 13, 2024. Its launch marked a significant milestone, as it coincided with the 10th anniversary of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and seventh year of SHS campaign. The fortnight long campaign will culminate  on October 2, Swachh Bharat Diwas. The theme of SHS 2024, "Swabhav Swachhta, Sanskar Swachhta," (purity of nature, purity of culture) aims to resurrect the spirit of collective action and citizen participation in cleanliness initiatives across India. It focuses on a 'whole of society' approach through three key focus areas - First, to lay emphasis on timely transformation of specific areas and enhancing overall cleanliness. Second, to encourage citizens to join cleanliness efforts through various participatory activities. And third, to offer preventive health check-ups and social security coverage for sanitation workers. Therefore, the goal of SHS 2024 is to promote widespread advocacy, encourage active citizen participation and acknowledge the vital contributions of sanitation workers. 

It is because of SHS 2024, the national sanitation movement is once again at the forefront of public discourse. Progress has been made in transforming India's sanitation landscape, particularly with respect to the elimination of open defecation. As on September 13, 2024, there are around 0.292 million Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus model villages which is more than 50 per cent of India's rural villages, including over 0.553 million ODF Plus. However, a pressing need remains. The integration of disaster resilient and ecologically sustainable sanitation technology and practices into the sanitation discourse, especially in climate vulnerable and disaster prone areas is the need of the hour.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBMG) has revolutionised the sanitation landscape in India by raising public awareness, encouraging behaviour change and building millions of toilets. However, as impact of climate change is increasing rapidly and the country faces an increasing number of natural as well as human-induced disasters, it is important to ensure that the concept of access to sanitation during disasters such as floods, it should be conceptualised, designed and ensured across all the flood typologies. This is not just a matter of convenience but of survival, public health and dignity. SHS 2024, with an emphasis on community-driven action, presents a unique opportunity to proactively address the urgent need for disaster-resilient and ecologically sustainable sanitation priorities, approaches and practices. The future of India's sanitation success story hinges on this.

The breakdown of sanitation systems during floods creates numerous vulnerabilities. The spread of diseases becomes a significant concern, particularly when safe defecation options are scarce. Women, girl children and adolescent girls face heightened risks during such times. Furthermore, post-disaster recovery efforts in India typically prioritise the restoration of infrastructure like roads, bridges and power supplies etc., while sanitation often receives less attention. This neglect intensifies the ongoing risks for vulnerable groups. It is essential to prioritise sanitation in disaster management and recovery plans to reduce these risks effectively.

Joydeep Gupta, South Asian environment expert in his article 'India's Policymakers Get Detailed Data to Help Manage Disasters', states that from 1995 to 2020, India experienced 1,058 floods, cyclones, droughts, cold waves and heatwaves. Floods are responsible for 33% of these disasters, followed by heat waves (24%), drought (22%), cold wave (16%) and cyclones (5%).States in North-East and Eastern India have traditionally been flood vulnerable and affected, such as Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. Disasters disrupt daily life, destroy infrastructure and often leave communities with a complete breakdown in basic services, including sanitation. In flood-affected and flood-prone areas, traditional sanitation systems, particularly the twin leach pit system, are highly susceptible to failure. This leaves impacted communities without access to safe toilets, heightening the probability of reversal of open defecation, exacerbating public health crises and worsening the challenges faced by women, children, adolescent girls and the elderly.The situation is even more precarious in climate-vulnerable regions, where the effects of changing climate are aggravating the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods. As climate change continues to alter weather patterns, floods will become more common, putting additional stress on already fragile sanitation systems.

Traditional sanitation systems are not only vulnerable to floods, but also ecologically detrimental to flood-prone areas. Often the flood prone regions have shallow groundwater table which also needs to be protected from bacteriological contamination. Thus, flood prone areas have innumerable sanitation vulnerabili-ties in the form of diverse flood-related hazards, which adversely impact populations, habitations, infrastructure, health and quality of life. The twin leach pit sanitation system has the potential to contaminate the shallow aquifer, which is the main source of drinking water in flood prone areas. Furthermore, it demands investment on an annual basis to restore its functioning after floods, but only for a limited number of months in a calendar year. Traditional toilet systems only work for between five and six months of the year.To overcome the vulnerabilities, there is a need to explore and promote a contextual sanitation system in the form of Disaster Resilient and Ecologically Sustainable Sanitation Technology (DRESST). It can offer a solution of safe access to sanitation in flood prone areas of North-East and Eastern India, ensuring access when it is needed most.

The ecological sanitation (EcoSan) approach by using the principle of Urine Diverting Dry Toilet (UDDT). The principle is of a nutrient loop as opposed to a linear system,i.e., the human waste products are treated for recovery of plant nutrients so that they can be reused for agricultural purposes. In UDDT the urine and faeces are collected separately. Drying materials such as ash, dried neem leaves or sawdust is added into the faecal chamber. The design of the pan is such that it allows for back wash water to be emptied separately and so the faecal chamber remains dry. There are two chambers here, when one fills up, it is closed and the other chamber is used. In the meantime, the matter in the first chamber undergoes decomposition to form manure. Urine is also diluted with water and used as fertilizer. Back wash water is directed into a soak pit or a cluster of banana plantation to prevent groundwater contamination. The entire structure is constructed above ground so there is no danger of contamination of water sources. The UDDT has a foundation and a plinth is constructed above this. The platform is then made, constituting of a plain cement concrete. The two faecal chambers are constructed above this and a concrete slab is laid above the chambers on to which the EcoSan pan is fitted. The height of the UDDT is decided based on the maximum flood level in the last 25 years. This ensures that the toilet does not get inundated or submerged during floods and it remains functional throughout the year.The size and shape of the UDDT is determined by the amount of land available to potential beneficiaries. Thus, making toilets accessible to families with different land sizes in and around the house without compromising on the quality of toilets.

The SHS 2024 campaign emphasises on janbhagidaari (community participation) in achieving sanitation goals. In disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable areas, uniform approach to sanitation often fail to account for local conditions and community needs. A one-size-fits-all approach to sanitation infrastructure is not feasible in a country as ecologically diverse and vulnerable as India. Local communities, as the first responders to disasters, are in the best position to identify the sanitation challenges they face following flood events. Involving communities in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of sanitation infrastructure allows for solutions that are tailored to their specific environmental conditions, cultural practices and local resources. For instance, in the riverine flood-prone Naya Tola Bhishambharpur, household members themselves chose the locations for Phaydemand Shauchalaya to reduce the risk of inundation during floods. By actively engaging local communities in conceptualising, planning, designing, constructing and maintaining Phaydemand Shauchalaya, MPA ensured janbhagidaari (community participation), leading to solutions that are both sustainable and embraced by the people they serve.

One of the key challenges MPA faced in promoting UDDT in Naya Tola Bhishambharpur was overcoming behavioural and cultural barriers. There is a strong cultural preference for flush toilets, which have been promoted as symbols of convenience and the preferred sanitation system with ease of access. Composting toilets, on the other hand, are often viewed with suspicion or disdain due to the separation and reuse of human waste, a practice still stigmatised in many communities. To address this, MPA adopted an 'exposure and enquiry' approach to generate awareness and clarity about Phaydemand Shauchalaya among the households of Naya Tola Bhishambharpur. Representatives, inclu-ding women, men and opinion leaders from the village, were taken on an exposure visit to a village in Pashchim (West) Champaran to learn about the detailed functioning, construction and benefits of UDDT. During this visit, MPA facilitated direct, unmediated interactions between the representatives from Naya Tola Bhishambharpurand villagers already using UDDT. The insights from this 'exposure and enquiry' process were then used to raise village-level awareness about disaster resilient and ecologically sustainable sanitation system. As a result, a common protocol for the participatory adaptation of disaster-resilient and eco-logically sustainable sanitation technology was developed with the households.

The example of UDDT in Naya Tola Bhishambharpur underscores the critical role of education and awareness in overcoming barriers to adoption. As part of SHS 2024, both the government and civil society organisations should prioritise educating communities on the advantages of disaster-resilient and ecologically sustainable sanitation system. This should involve emphasising their cost-effectiveness, environmental benefits and resilience in the face of disasters like floods. When communities understand that these systems can enhance their quality of life, protect health and support climate change adaptation, they are more likely to adopt and maintain them, as demonstrated in Naya Tola Bhishambharpur.

The SHS 2024 campaign provides an opportune moment to take bold action on sanitation in India especially in the disaster affected and vulnerable areas. To ensure that sanitation remains a national priority and that the country is prepared to face the challenges of climate change and natural disasters, several key steps must be taken, for instance, integrating disasterresilient and ecologically sustain-able sanitation into practice; promoting public-private partnerships and innova-tion; fostering community participation and ownership; building capacity and raising awareness; and most importantly, linking sanitation with disaster pre-paredness and climate adaptation.

The SHS 2024 campaign marks a pivotal moment for India's sanitation movement. As the country strives to make sanitation a national priority through the collective efforts of its citizens, it is essential to acknowledge the unique challenges posed by disasters and climate vulnerability. Disaster-resilient and ecologically sustainable sanitation technology is not just a desirable goal, it is an urgent necessity. By prioritising these solutions into national sanitation policies, practices and promoting community participation, India can safeguard the health, dignity and well-being of its people, even in the face of an uncertain climate future. The time to act is now.

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Success Story: Phaydemand Shauchalayas

Megh Pyne Abhiyan (MPA), a non-governmental organisation active in the water-stressed regions of East India has contextualised sanitation as DRESST in the flood prone areas of Bihar and popularised it as Phaydemand Shauchalayas (beneficial/productive toilet).

The Phaydemand Shauchalayas have demonstrated sustainable sanitation in the riverine flood prone Naya Tola Bhishambharpur village in Bhagwanpur panchayat of Nautan block in Pashchim (West) Champaran district in Bihar. Phaydemand Shauchalayas have been implemented in the village by MPA in two phases - between 2017 and 2024. The first phase was carried out through the support of Himalayan Adaptation, Water and Resilience Research (HI-AWARE) initiative, an action research programme supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Its aim was to develop climate change adaptation strategies and enhance the resilience of the most vulnerable women, men and children in the mountains and plains of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. The second phase, supported by DCB Bank, Mumbai, sought to expand the number of Phaydemand Shauchalayas in the village by providing safe sanitation access to more households, drawing on the community's lived experiences with sanitation. The floods in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 in Naya Tola Bhishambharpur serve as evidence of the effectiveness of Phaydemand Shauchalayas. During these flood years, the toilet structures remained intact, ensuring access to safe sanitation during floods and preventing household members from temporarily relocating to higher ground. Thus, one of the most significant advantages of Phaydemand Shauchalaya is its adaptability to extreme weather conditions like floods. Furthermore, by reducing the need for extensive sewage infrastructure, Phaydemand Shauchalayas can be implemented in remote or rural areas. In disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable regions, these adaptabilities are essential.

(The author is Managing Trustee,

Megh Pyne Abhiyan. Feedback on

this article can be sent to feedback.employmentnews@gmail.com)

Views expressed are personal.