Sulabh International, an NGO headquartered in Palam – Dagri Marg, is known for having pioneered the twin-pit pour-flush toilet and the eccentric eponymous museum of toilets (TIME voted it as the world’s third weirdest museum in 2014).
In fact, PM Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) campaign constructed its toilets on the various latrine models developed by this NGO suited for rural India.
You can view specimens of these models at the Sulabh campus, all of which were invented by Founder Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, a sociologist also recognised for his attempts to uplift the widows of Varanasi.
But none of Sulabh’s toilet designs is patented. “A patent would raise the cost and defeat the purpose of accessibility to all. We give out the technical design and measurements to whoever comes to us,” says Manoj Kumar, curator, Sulabh Museum, who expertly explains the chronology of the waste, that gets collected in the pits, and over the course of three years, disintegrates into three channels – the CO2 and methane gases to one chamber, the water going back to earth and the waste turning into a dry, decomposed rock, a tiny piece of which he holds in his hand while explaining.
“It has no smell, no pathogens, is safe for manual handling and has become a very good organic fertiliser.” A thriving example of redirecting natural resources back to Mother Earth is the biogas plant on campus. The gas emitted from the waste fuels the staff kitchen and mantle lamps in the garden, the water produced at the treatment pump is used to water the garden, and the decomposed slurry becomes manure.
The above achievements aside, not many are aware that Sulabh was also responsible in nudging the United Nations to declare November 19 as World Toilet Day (WTD), which it did in 2013.
“It was Mrs (Indira) Gandhi’s birthday (on this day), and she was very concerned with the conditions of scavengers in India, cleanliness and toilet facilities for all,” says Ajay Verma, Senior Advisor, Sulabh International.
“It is now UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) that by 2030, every home should own a toilet and nobody should be left behind.”
So, every November 19 at Sulabh International is celebrated like a festival. The Sulabh Sanitation Club formed by the children of Sulabh Public School organises a range of activities.
“Last year, we invited children from schools across India who had expressed their views on what toilets should look like. Year before, we had a 500kg cake shaped as an Indian toilet,” recalls Samikshya Roy, club coordinator.
This year, given the emergency AQI levels, the celebrations have only been contained to the campus.
This time, students will form a human chain, apart from participating in interschool competitions on slogan writing, quiz, and poster making. Roy says, “We want to sensitise people that only constructing toilets is not enough, we should also learn how to use it properly.”
Trivia corner
In 2014, Sulabh International was in the news for having stopped a wife from divorcing her husband in Patna the same year. She had to daily defecate in the open field because of her husband’s empty promises of constructing a toilet at home. Sulabh built her a toilet and paid her Rs 1,00,000 for speaking up.