Only a whereas in the past, college students within the authorities faculty in Tamil Nadu’s Nellivasal village have been pressured to exit within the open for defecation. With none correct rest room facility, they urinated on the nook of the campus constructing at evening, making a stench in your entire hostel block that made it insufferable to sit down within the eating space of the varsity.
Situated within the hilly forest space of the Jawadhu Hills (Jap Ghats) in Tirupathur district, the tribal village faculty lacked rest room amenities, owing to its distant location and monetary constraints.
This continued till architect Barnala Michael, architect-turned-documentary filmmaker Vishnupriya, and a bunch of like-minded mates got here collectively to resolve the social difficulty by collective effort and crowdfunding. Preserving the constraints in thoughts, they adopted an unconventional design method with distinctive rest room models and cost-effective building strategies and methods.
Apparently, they constructed three bathrooms and an open bathtub space that value Rs 2.5 lakh — a 30 % discount in whole value in comparison with typical building strategies. The method allowed them to finish the venture in only one month regardless of the restricted monetary and human assets.
We sat down with Michael to know how they launched into this mission to assemble low-cost, sustainable bathrooms within the authorities faculty of Nellivasal.
The journey started when Vishnupriya got here throughout a heartbreaking information report a couple of younger lady who tragically misplaced her life because of well being problems from constipation, attributable to the absence of bathrooms in her faculty. This disturbing incident propelled her into motion.
She had already been engaged on a documentary ‘Meel’ to indicate options for waste administration for the previous seven years. So she got here up with the thought of setting up low-cost eco-friendly bathrooms for the federal government faculty in Nellivasal village. After preliminary discussions with a bunch of like-minded individuals and mates, they approached Michael to plot a plan to resolve the difficulty.
“Most of us who have been a part of the venture come from areas of water shortage. We now have identified the problems of bathroom amenities and the ache of open defecation. This downside aggravates in the course of the wet season. This was a standard emotional ache level, which motivated us to come back collectively to resolve this downside,” says Michael.
This dire state of affairs the place kids have been pressured to defecate within the open because of the lack of correct amenities, struck a chord with Michael and led the group to focus their efforts on the federal government faculty in Nellivasal village.
“The rationale why we selected to assemble bathrooms in Nellivasal village was due to its tough terrain the place building of bathrooms was difficult and faculty kids have been pressured to defecate within the open. This might be a place to begin and show to be an instance for different related areas,” Michael says.
When the group went to the federal government faculty in Nellivasal, they discovered a rest room was constructed on the premises, primarily utilized by the lecturers and women throughout faculty hours. Nonetheless, Michael says, there was no rest room facility for hostellers. “Once we enquired, we received to know that the varsity had been making an attempt to get funds for building of bathrooms however they might not succeed,” he provides.
The group sought permission from the forest division to assemble low-cost and sustainable bathrooms for the varsity. “We got a month’s time. We discovered that mobilising building supplies and staff was tough within the space. So, we wanted to be good in constructing bathrooms which would require much less value, time, and assets,” he provides.
Apparently, the venture was completely funded by volunteers of the Cuckoo organisation.
From design, value, method: setting up distinctive bathrooms
After making ready a tough design for bogs in October 2023, Michael and the group began setting up the bathrooms. They employed modern building methods, choosing ferrocement constructions to scale back prices and expedite the constructing course of.
“Ferrocement building method is a low-cost methodology that’s much less labour intensive. On this, bolstered cement is utilized over a rooster metallic mesh. Moreover, we used polycarbonate sheet, a translucent materials that permits pure gentle and out of doors visibility that might allow college students to really feel slight resemblance with their outdated methods,” he says.
The group additionally used a leech pit system for waste administration, turning human waste into pure manure for the varsity’s backyard. “On this system, two pits are related to the bathroom and they’re constructed such that water will get drained by its partitions and stable waste stays within the pit. When one pit will get stuffed, excreta is collected within the subsequent pit. In the meantime, stable waste within the former turns into manure in that interval,” he says.
Michael explains, “Water is the primary medium for the expansion of microbes. Once you take away water from stable waste, it doesn’t trigger any dangerous scent. Pits which have porous partitions allow the contents to seep into the bottom. Sawdust is utilized to arrest the dangerous scent and microbial progress. It’s a sustainable and pure method of waste administration.”
Apart from, Michael says they’ve designed the bathrooms in such a method that pulls the curiosity of scholars who have been accustomed to open defecation. “We constructed bathrooms in oval spherical shapes and adorned with vibrant colors to draw the scholars to make use of the enclosed area,” he says.
This eco-friendly method not solely addressed hygiene considerations but in addition promoted sustainable practices inside the neighborhood. The venture was accomplished by November 2023.
The impression of their work was instant and profound. The newly constructed bathrooms not solely supplied important amenities but in addition triggered a behavioural change among the many college students. Constructed primarily for the boys’ hostel on the campus, at present about 80 rural college students together with girls and boys are utilizing these bathrooms.
Sriram, a Class 12 scholar of the varsity, tells The Higher India, “Earlier when there have been no bathrooms, I might face loads of issues, particularly in the course of the evening. As it’s a forest space, I feared going out for urination. These new bathrooms have introduced immense consolation to us. I actually just like the construction of the bathrooms and likewise the work made on them!”
In the meantime, Michael who visited the varsity a month again, shares, “I discovered the bathrooms have been functioning correctly. Now, there isn’t a such difficulty of dangerous scent on campus and youngsters are main a daily faculty life. The improved sanitation circumstances enhanced cleanliness, punctuality, and general well-being of the varsity neighborhood.”
“We hope that the thought of eco-toilets spreads to varsities in different elements of the nation the place college students lack entry to bathrooms. With our instance, we hope to encourage architects, engineers, faculty lecturers, and authorities officers to supply dignity to our college students, defend the atmosphere, and embrace sustainability,” he provides.
Edited by Pranita Bhat. All photographs: Prem Kumar.
