Sulabh International

Did you know that the dozens of Sulabh Shauchalayas that we see in the Indian cities are actually the work of one single organization! I did not know until when I read this article about an Indian NGO asked to build model toilets in Kabul.

Sulabh International was started by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak in 1970, and now has over 35,000 volunteers on its rolls to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, health and hygiene, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education, training and awareness campaigns. The technology behind the Sulabh Shauchalayas is unique. It needs less than 2 litres of water to flush the excreta, does not require the service of scavengers (typically, youth from backward scheduled castes and tribes) to clean the toilets, provides manure on the spot, can be easily connected to a sewer line whenever it comes up in the area, and the pits can be cleaned easily to transport the waste to biogas generation plants. They have set up waste water treatment plants, facilities for electricity generation from biogas, production of manure, and even vermi-composting plants. Their expertise is now sought after by WHO, UNDP, and the World Bank.