Introduction

Bangladesh has made significant progress in sanitation under the programme ‘Sanitation for All’. Despite considerable progress (39 per cent in 1990 to 53 per cent in 2008: JMP 2010) in the sanitation coverage after the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) declared 100 per cent sanitation target initially by 2010 and adjusted to achieve the same by 2013, growing slum population in major cities and other secondary towns are still struggling to get within the purview of sanitation services primarily because of the land tenure issue. Moreover, the risk of contaminating groundwater in congested settlements is on the rise in urban slums due to lack of space. In water-scarce areas such as Barind regions and the hill tracks, people break the water seal due to lack of water for flushing the latrine. Thus, a majority of the people are suffering from unavailability of technologies appropriate for the varying hydro-geologic and physical conditions.

The concept of eco-sanitation has been developed in order to set up hygienic sustainable systems of human waste disposal, to retrieve and re-use the nutrients from human waste, and to economise water use. Eco-sanitation includes options such as flush-free (and odour-free) urinals, separation toilets for urine and excreta, dry and composting toilets, etc.

The GoB has undertaken various initiatives for installing at least one eco-toilet in each union (4750 unions) in 2008. About 20 per cent of the unions were able to install the allocated eco-toilets. Most of unions were unable to install them because of insufficient skill of the union authorities.

Considering the drawbacks of the existing sanitation technologies, Practical Action Bangladesh has started working on eco-toilets from 2006 onwards. With financial support from UNICEF, DPHE and Waste the Netherlands, Practical Action Bangladesh and its PNGOs have implemented several projects on ecological sanitation in difficult-to-access areas like urban slums, Hoar, Hilly, Barind track and flood-prone areas of Bangladesh.

Development of Appropriate Design

The approach to developing designs has been Participatory Technology Development (PTD). Accordingly, 11 designs have been developed, keeping in mind the geo-hydrological features of the difficult areas and other socio-physical aspects. The major innovations in designs are as follows:

• Due to cultural and religious stigma, engineering solutions have been implemented in the plastic fiber pan to divert urine into the evaporation bed during menstruation period

• Provision for special needs of women (pregnancy), children, and disabled people have been made by providing handle and railing inside and outside of the toilets, respectively

• Provision of 3-inch diameter vent pipes and two windows in the toilets to reduce bad smell and aid better ventilation

• Since eco-toilet is a relatively new technology to many people, pictorial O&M guides have been provided on the walls to guide the people regarding their proper use

• Due to lack of space in urban areas, the movable dram option was adopted for urban slums

Community Mobilisation and Motivation Approaches

A package of audience-responsive local culture-fit awareness activities have been undertaken and implemented for community mobilisation. The activities include:

• Exchange Visits: Exchange visits were organised with community members, government and LGIs representatives to the areas where ecological sanitation initiatives are being successfully implemented.

• Courtyard Sessions were conducted among women and adolescent girls to address their special issues and oriented them regarding their use and maintenance.

• Child to Adult Approach to address the children in an initiative to make them aware and interested in disseminating technology to adult groups in general and eco-toilets and products in particular.

• Community Meetings were held to orient the people about the use of eco-toilets and their benefits to the social elite, community leaders and religious leaders and involve them in the process of toilet construction, operation and also replication of eco-toilets.

• Interactive Popular Theatre (IPT) to address the masses for disseminating knowledge of eco-toilets and their accruing benefits so that community people as a whole get the momentum to construct and use eco-toilets.

• Rallies/ Processions have been held for mass awareness creation about the eco toilets and their benefits.

As a result of motivational activities:

• People’s knowledge on eco-toilets and eco-products have been enhanced

• Demands for eco-toilets and products are on the rise among an increasing number of people

• Management of eco-toilets and products has improved among the toilet owners and negative census of other stakeholders has reduced as well as decreased.

Lessons Learnt

• Beneficiaries’ freedom for choosing toilet options have made them proactive in construction of toilets and also created ownership.

• People are interested to have a good-looking and brick-made long-lasting toilets and also willing to invest for the same.

• Lack of land availability and land tenure ship have posed difficulty in urban areas. People were reluctant to construct eco-toilets in areas where they did not have land tenure ship

• The eco-toilets can address the special needs of the women provided the design is followed properly during construction

• Construction cost of eco-toilets should be further reduced to reach the masses

• Huge motivational activities are needed to overcome social and religious stigma attached in using eco-products in agriculture land

Way Forward

The geo-hydrological and socio-economical pattern of Bangladesh is more or less the same with different states of India. Open defecation is a common practice in various parts of India even now, which contributes to water contamination, resulting in various water-borne diseases. The ever-growing slum population in the different cities and secondary towns has further compounded the situation. In water-scarce areas such as Bundelkhand region, people are reluctant to use pour flush latrine due to acute water scarcity. Considering the current scenario, ecological sanitation has an apparent strong potential to address the gaps in sanitation and sustainable scaling up in India. The Indian Government has already declared eco-sanitation as an alternative sanitation option in the total sanitation campaign. Different government agencies and NGOs are working for the promotion of eco-sanitation in the household level. Thus, the experienced gained from Practical Action Bangladesh can be a good lesson for disseminating this technology here. Since Ecological Sanitation is relatively a new concept in India, there is also the socio-cultural and religious stigma around it. In addition, creating community ownership takes time. A series of awareness and motivation activities can prove to be effective to mitigate these challenges. The hardware of eco-sanitation technologies has developed in some parts of the world, including both developed and developing countries. In India, the design of eco-toilets has to be further modified to fit into the local conditions and to make acceptable by the local people. From the technical point of view, eco-sanitation is quite feasible in India because of the favourable climate. There are specific states of India where this could be more appropriate for ‘Closing the loops’ of the existing sanitation practices.

Acknowledgements

I hereby express my gratitude to Practical Action Bangladesh and sincere thanks to Dr Afroza Ahmed, Team Leader, IPA 3 of Practical Action Bangladesh and Dr Soumen Maity, Team Leader, TARA for giving me the opportunity to submit this paper. I also offer my heartiest thanks to my colleagues from Practical Action Bangladesh, Mr. Abdullah Al Mamun, Rafiul Islam, Fariduzzaman and Md. Dellwer Hossain for their input in preparing this paper. q

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