The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) onSunday launched its much-hyped Bio-digester, christened as bio-toilets fromDhamara near the Wheeler Island test facility from where it used to test launchlong-range missiles like Agni and AAD interceptors.
Union Minister of State for Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation and Chemicals and Fertilizers Srikanta Jena and Minister forRural Development, Drinking Water and Sanitation Jairam Ramesh jointlyinaugurated the pilot project developed by the DRDO.
Appreciating the efforts of DRDO, Ramesh said thebio-toilets are no less important than the Agni missile as providing propersanitation to the people of the country is the biggest challenge now.
“Over 60 percent people in India still prefer opendefecation due to non-availability of toilets. While out of 2.40 lakh GramPanchayats only 10 percent GPs are declared as Nirmal Panchayats, the figure isdismal in Odisha where only 280 GPs are announced as Nirmal Panchayats out of6300,” he said.
Other states, which feature in the list that lack adequatesanitation facilities, include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. “Evencountries like Bangladesh, Pakistahn, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan are aboveus as far as sanitation is concerned. There will be Agni in our house if we donot have toilets. It is easy to develop Agni but not make people use toilets.We may have missiles like Agni, but we are not safe until we are healthy andclean,” Ramesh said in a lighter note.
The union minister said Sikkim is the only state where allcitizens have access to toilets. “Kerala will soon be the second one in thecountry and we aim to make all the GPs in the country Nirmal Panchayats withinnext 10 years under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan scheme. Earlier we were providingRs 3500 to each BPL family to set up toilets. Now it has been enhanced to Rs10,000 to each family irrespective of their economic background. Besides, wehave decided to hold the panchayats responsible if people fail to installtoilets within a fixed deadline,” he added besides suggesting the DRDO torename the project ‘Bapu’ after Mahatma Gandhi’s nickname.
Next week, the Rural Development ministry will sign a MoUwith the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to produce eco-friendly toilets. Initially,the DRDO has decided to set up the bio-toilets in 1000 GPs across the countryand the RD ministry would spend nearly Rs 400 Cr for the purpose.
Earlier the DRDO and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry (FICCI) had entered into a MoU for DRDO-FICCI AcceleratedTechnology Assessment and Commercialisation (ATAC) programme, which aims atcommercialising the cutting edge technologies developed by DRDO for civilianapplications. The toilets cost only Rs 15,000 each and is cheaper if built forclusters.
The Bio-digester, named as ELOO (eco-friendly loo) is theIndian solution to the global problem. It is the perfect alternative to thecurrent ‘Flush and Forget’ toilets. It is expected that bio-toilets can savebillions of dollars for any government in waste management and to ensure goodhealth for all.
The Bio-digester technology has been developed by Gwaliorbased Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and Tezpur basedDefence Research Laboratory (DRL. The technology was used to decomposebiological waste generated by soldiers deployed in high-altitude regions suchas Siachen and Ladakh. The ELOOs can effectively function in extreme conditionsand temperature ranging from - 6 degree C to 50 degree C.
The innovation degrades and converts the human waste intousable water and gasses in an eco-friendly manner. The generated gas can beutilized for energy/cooking and water for irrigation purposes. The processinvolves the bacteria, which feed upon the fecal matter inside the tank,through anaerobic process which finally degrades the matter and releasesmethane gas that can be used for cooking, along with the treated water.
Speaking on the occasion Jena suggested for initiating amodel development programme (MDP) of bio-digester toilets in the entire northeast region of Odisha under the pilot project to cater to the needs of peoplein the districts like Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj whichcan be replicated in other regions of the country.
DRDO chief and Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister V KSaraswat said national security and country’s prosperity goes hand in hand andDRDO will do its best in both fronts, as both are equally important. “DRDO isengaged in identifying relevant technologies and adapt to solve the problemsfaced by ‘Aam Admi’ through innovation,” he told.
Highlighting the technical aspects, Chief Controller forLife Sciences and International Cooperation at DRDO W Selvamurthy stated thebio digester technology is an innovative and cost effective solution for a megaproblem of water pollution and health hazard due to open defecation. “Thebenefit of this technology can bring a major change in the quality of life andhelp to lead a healthy life across the world. The government has requisitioned12,000 units for 10 islands in Lakshwadeep and the Railways 10,000 units fortrains to make the tracks clean,” he added.
Ramesh later visited the Wheeler Island, a test facility ofIntegrated Test Range (ITR) and interacted with the scientists before returningback to Trivandrum in the evening.