Tamil Nadu - Nagapattinam   

Tsunami-hit village gets 50 Ecosan toilets

Staff Reporter

They are said to be suitable for high water-table areas

HYGIENIC: One of the `ecosan' toilets being inaugurated at Kameshwaram in Nagapattinam district.

NAGAPATTINAM: Kameshwaram near here has become the first village in tsunami-affected Tamil Nadu coast to have 50 eco-friendly `ecosan' toilets. The toilets have been constructed by Society for Community Organisation and Peoples Education (SCOPE) of Tiruchi with financial support from the UNICEF, District Rural Development Agency and Friends in Need, a non-governmental organisation based in France, and handed over on Monday.

M. Subburaman, Director of SCOPE, told The Hindu that the `ecosan' toilet was highly suitable for high water-table areas such as sandy coastal belts and riverbanks. He said that the pit latrines were not suitable in coastal areas, as they would cave in high water table areas. The conventional septic tank also would not work satisfactorily in the coastal areas.

He pointed out that `ecosan' was a new technology where the urine and faeces were collected separately and water needed for usage of toilet was about three litres only compared to 10 to 12 litres per use in other toilets. The urine and wash water are used for watering the plants in the kitchen garden and faeces will get composted within six months when it too could be used for agricultural purposes.

The NGOs had constructed hundreds of permanent houses in tsunami-hit areas have put up pit latrines in many places that are not suitable to the high water table coastal areas.

Hence, the UNICEF and the district administration has funded the Ecosan project to study the suitability of the model to tsunami-hit costal areas. SCOPE had built over 200 `ecosan' toilets in the Cauvery riverbank villages of Musiri and Sevanthilingapuram, which are functioning successfully for the past three years and helping farmers to use the urine and the compost.

Also in two other districts

V. Ganapathy, Liaison Officer of SCOPE and Advisor of Tiruchi District Exnora, said that `ecosan' toilets were being constructed in Cuddalore and Villupuram districts also with UNICEF and DRDA assistance. The cost of each toilet was Rs.7, 000, of which the UNICEF was giving Rs.2, 500, the DRDA Rs.1,200 and the FIN Rs.1,200 and the balance by the house owner. One hundred more `ecosan' toilets will be built in Kameshwaram, he added.

Since this is the most eco-friendly and feasible model of toilets in coastal areas, there has been a great response from all sections of society from rich and the poor in the coastal areas to `ecosan' toilets, said Kanagasundaram, village president of Kameshwaram. K.Y. Babu, consultant, water and sanitation, UNICEF, and others spoke. Mrs. Shanthi, leader of the women self-help groups in Kameshwaram declared open the toilets.

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