PHOTO - World's Biggest Toilet / Bath Complex in Shirdi

[rOhit beHaL]

INDIA:
WORLD'S BIGGEST TOILET-CUM-BATH COMPLEXES IS LOCATED IN SHIRDI
Thalif Deen

STOCKHOLM, Aug 19 (IPS) - Dr. Bindeshwar Patak, the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate and founder of a grassroots sanitation movement in India, recounts the days before his country's independence in 1947 when toilets were a rare sight in remote villages and towns under British rule. An English woman, who was planning a trip to colonial India, wrote a letter to the owner of a small guest house who was also doubling as the town's schoolmaster. She was concerned as to whether the guest house contained a WC. The school master, not fluent in the nuances of English acronyms, asked the local priest if he knew the meaning of WC.

Together they pondered possible meanings of the letters and concluded that the lady wanted to know if there was a Wayside Chapel near the guest house. That the letters WC (water closet) could mean a bathroom, never entered their minds, said Dr. Pathak. So the schoolmaster wrote back: 'Dear Madam, I take great pleasure in informing you that the WC is located nine miles from the house. It is located in the middle of a grove of pine trees, surrounded by lovely grounds.' 'As there are many people expected in the summer months, I suggest you arrive early. There is, however, plenty of standing room. This is an unfortunate situation especially if you are in the habit of going regularly.'

'I would recommend that your ladyship plan to go on a Thursday, as there is an organ accompaniment. The acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds can be heard everywhere. The newest addition is a bell which rings every time a person enters.' 'I look forward to escorting you there myself, and seating you in a place where you can be seen by all. With deepest regards, The Schoolmaster.' "No wonder," said Dr. Pathak, amidst howls of laughter, "the British woman never visited India."

Addressing the weeklong international water conference in Stockholm which concludes Friday, Dr Pathak said India has come a long way since the days of colonial rule in its efforts to meet the sanitation needs of a growing population of over 1.1 billion people in the world's second most populous country, after China.

He said one of the world's biggest toilet-cum-bath complexes is located in Shirdi in the Indian state of Maharashtra,
which boasts 120 WCs,
108 bathrooms,
28 special toilets
and 5,000 lockers for the convenience of Pilgrims.

Still, India has over 600 million people without access to a toilet, and according to the United Nations, about 2.5 billion people worldwide do not have access to basic sanitation and about 1.2 billion have no sanitation at all. Since he established the Sulabh Sanitation Movement in 1970, Dr Pathak has developed cost effective toilet systems and worked to change social attitudes towards traditionally unsanitary toilet practices in slums, rural villages and dense urban areas.

"The results of Dr Pathak's endeavours constitute one of the most amazing examples of how one person can impact the well being of millions," the Stockholm Water Prize nominating committee said in its citation. First presented in 1991, the Stockholm Water Prize is considered the world's most prestigious prizes for outstanding achievement in water-related activities. The annual prize includes 150,000 dollars and a crystal sculpture.
When he started his social reform movement in 1970, Dr Pathak was aiming at solving three basic health problems facing India: defecation in the open, cleaning of bucket toilets manually by the people called human scavengers, and public places without facilities of toilets and urinals.

In India, he said, women had to suffer the most; they had to go for defecation before sunrise or after sunset to ensure privacy.
Girls did not go to school because of lack of toilets and many children died because of diarrhoea and dehydration. And foreigners did not like to come to India because of lack of toilet facilities. The human scavengers in India were treated as "untouchables" and were hated, humiliated and insulted by the people for whom they used to work. In pre-independence Indian society, a person born in the 'untouchable' caste died as an 'untouchable'. There was no chance of any change in the caste structure, Dr Pathak said.

Despite the fact that he was from an orthodox Brahmin family, considered one of the highest castes in India, Dr. Pathak decided to prepare himself to shed his own prejudices against 'untouchables'. "I went and lived in the colony of scavengers for three months," he said, and personally experienced the lifestyles of the 'untouchables'.

The Sulabh Sanitation Movement has so far installed 1.2 million toilets based on his technology and the government of India has also constructed 54 million such toilets. Dr. Pathak developed two technologies - one for the conversion of bucket toilets into Sulabh toilets (twin-pit, pour-flush, compost latrines) converting human waste into fertiliser.

And a second, the creation of toilets for public places like bus stops, railway stations, tourist spots and religious places. Back in the 1970s, Indians never paid for the use of toilets. Dr Pathak introduced the first public toilet in 1974 in Patna, in the state of Bihar, maintaining it on 'pay and use' basis. "Initially, people ridiculed me, joked and had sceptical views, saying who would pay for the use of a toilet?" he said. But on the very first day, 500 people came to use it and the total collection was about five dollars, he said. Sulabh has installed more than 7,500 public toilets - besides the 1.2 million based on new technologies - and now other non-governmental organisations and private companies have started working in this sector.

The toilets built by Sulabh, individual as well as public, are used by 10 million people daily. In the last three decades and more, Indians have developed the habit of making payments for the use of public toilets throughout the country. This has helped to reduce the burden on the public exchequer for the maintenance of public toilets and bath facilities, he said.

Source - http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48143



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World's Biggest Toilet -cum -Bath Complex at Shirdi



Perhaps no other civilization in the world has given so much attention and importance to sanitation and cleanliness as the Harappans did.
The quality and workmanship of the domestic toilets, bathrooms and drains and the drainage system of Harappa were remarkable and displayed immaculate forethought and planning. Unfortunately, in the maze of centuries that followed, this sparkling example of our ancient civilization has been lost.

Embarking upon a prestigious and ambitious project Sulabh has constructed probably the world's biggest toilet-cum-bath complex at Shirdi, Maharashtra, at the footsteps of the holy shrine of Shri Sai Baba. The splendid legacy of the holy man of Shirdi has put the town of Shirdi on the spiritual map of the globe. Every year millions of devotees from the country as well as abroad, visit the holy shrine.
The shrine was in dire need of an appropriate toilet complex to meet the ever-growing requirement of the multitudes of devotees who thronged the town and the shrine everyday.

To meet the demand, at behest of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan, Shirdi, the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, Maharashtra Branch, got constructed an aesthetically exquisite and visually appealing, colourful toilet-cum-bath complex, spread over an area of over two acres at a total cost of Rs 1.53 crores. Sri Saibaba Sansthan, Shirdi provided the funds for the sprawling complex, which was inaugurated by Shri D.M. Sukhthankar, Chairman of the Sansthan.
Speaking on the historic occasion Dr Pathak said, “Such facilities should be provided on a ‘pay-and use’ basis at all places of congregation where people throng in large numbers for worship and meditation”.

The toilet complex provides a variety of facilities to its users including 120 WC's, 108 bathing cubicles, 28 special toilets, six dressing rooms, rows of urinals, immaculately laid out to avoid congestion. The complex is capable of serving approximately 30,000 users everyday.
The self-sustaining complex has three excreta based, biogas-generating Sulabh plants which provide electricity to the entire complex for illumination and water heating.
The water discharged from the complex is recycled for irrigating the beautifully laid out green area.

To provide a sylvan touch to the complex a variety of trees have also been planted all around the area. Telephone services are available at the counters and provision for 5000 lockers has also been made to facilitate the tourists for safekeeping of their belongings.

Source -http://www.sulabhinternational.org/pages/world'_bggest_toilet_bathcomplex.php

Sairam,
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[seshadri]

Where is this exactly in Shirdi. Is it already started?. How much should we pay for using lockers.

[rOhit beHaL]

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak Indian Sanitation Innovator and Social Reformer Receives the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize
Aug 27, 2009, 2:30pm

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak received the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize at a Royal Award Ceremony and Banquet during the World Water Week in Stockholm on August 20.


 
“The results of Dr. Pathak’s endeavors constitute one of the most amazing examples of how one person can impact the well being of millions,” noted the Stockholm Water Prize nominating committee in its citation. “Dr. Pathak’s leadership in attaining these remarkable socio-environmental results has been universally recognised, and not least by those who have secured the freedom of human dignity as a consequence of his efforts.”
 
As the founder of the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, Dr. Pathak is known around the world for his wide ranging work in the sanitation field to improve public health, advance social progress, and improve human rights in India and other countries. His accomplishments span the fields of sanitation technology, social enterprise, and healthcare education for millions of people in his native country, serving as a model for NGO agencies and public health initiatives around the world.
 
Since he established the Sulabh Sanitation Movement in 1970, Dr. Pathak has worked to change social attitudes toward traditional unsanitary latrine practices in slums, rural villages, and dense urban districts, and developed cost effective toilet systems that have improved daily life and health for millions of people.
 
Through Sulabh, Dr. Pathak has waged a decades-long campaign to abolish the traditional practice of manual “scavenging” of human waste from the simple pit latrines that have predominated across much of India. His early concern for the plight of the “untouchable” scavenger caste led to the development of the Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets to eliminate the need for scavenging in poor communities.

To meet the demand, at behest of the Shri Saibaba Sansthan, Shirdi, the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, Maharashtra Branch, got constructed an aesthetically exquisite and visually appealing, colourful toilet-cum-bath complex, spread over an area of over two acres. The toilet complex provides a variety of facilities to its users including 120 WC's, 108 bathing cubicles, 28 special toilets, six dressing rooms, rows of urinals, immaculately laid out to avoid congestion. The complex is capable of serving approximately 30,000 users everyday. The self-sustaining complex has three excreta based, biogas-generating Sulabh plants which provide electricity to the entire complex for illumination and water heating. The water discharged from the complex is recycled for irrigating the beautifully laid out green area. To provide a sylvan touch to the complex a variety of trees have also been planted all around the area. Telephone services are available at the counters and provision for 5000 lockers has also been made to facilitate the tourists for safekeeping of their belongings.


About Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak.
 Born to a Brahmin family in 1943 and raised in the Indian state of Bihar, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak attended Patna University where he earned an M.A. in Sociology, an M.A. in English, a Ph.D. in “Liberation of scavengers through low cost sanitation” and a Doctorate of Literature in “Eradication of scavenging and environmental sanitation in India: a sociological study.”
 
Dr. Pathak first came to understand the plight of scavengers in 1968 when he joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation) Cell of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee. During that time, he traveled throughout India, living with scavenger families as part of his Ph.D. research. Drawing on that experience, he resolved to take action, not only out of sympathy for the scavengers but also in the belief that scavenging is a dehumanizing practice that would ultimately have a destructive impact on modern Indian society.
 
With the establishment of the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation in 1970, he thus launched a unique movement that combines technical innovation with humanitarian principles. A prolific writer and speaker, Dr. Pathak has authored several books, the most well-known of which is The Road to Freedom, and is a frequent participant in conferences on sanitation, health, and social progress around the world. He lives near the Sulabh campus in New Delhi.
 
 
About the Stockholm Water Prize
 First presented in 1991, The Stockholm Water Prize is the world’s most prestigious prize for outstanding achievement in water-related activities.



Stockholm Water Prize sculpture. Photo SIWI

The annual prize, which includes a USD 150,000 award and a crystal sculpture specially designed and created by Orrefors, honours individuals, institutions or organisations whose work contributes broadly to the conservation and protection of water resources and to improved health of the planet’s inhabitants and ecosystems.
 
An international nominating committee appointed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible to review the nominations and propose a candidate. The Founders of the prize are Swedish and international companies in co-operation with the City of Stockholm. The prize program is administered by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).
 
The patron of the Stockholm Water Prize is H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
 
Source - http://www.solutions-site.org/artman/publish/article_464.shtml
 
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