When community efforts led to open defecation almost stopping

Many of the stories published in Vidura and Grassroots, journals of the Press Institute of India, are about the urgent concerns of people in India, and the trials and tribulations people they go through almost on a daily basis. While many are inspiring stories, others cause us to pause and think. 

I often wish that our journals reached far more people than what they presently do. I would have loved it if these journals could have been translated in Hindi or in other languages, but that is easier said than done. Strapped for funds, we do not score on advertising or marketing either. However, what is heartening is, readers do send emails saying how they have been moved after reading some of the articles and encourage us to keep our work going.

Here, I’d like to focus on a couple of feel-good stories featured recently. Both stories were sent by veteran journalist Bharat Dogra who is based in Delhi but keeps travelling to various places in the Indian heartland.

The first is located in a village called Kotda which lies in Mangrol Block in Gujarat’s Junagadh District. Here, open defecation was being practised by all households with the wastewater flowing out from kitchens and bathing places. Dogra refers to the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme that has provided vital support in changing the picture. Four self-help groups comprising women got rooftop rainwater structures constructed which helped people store enough water so that they did not have to fetch drinking water from distant places.

Community efforts have led to open defecation being checked almost entirely in Kotda, bringing visible health benefits – the incidence of diarrhoea, vomiting, typhoid and fever has come down. All plastic waste is segregated; the waste is not burnt, instead it is given to a plastic waste dealer. Many women have started composting kitchen waste, using pitchers, bins and an organic catalyst. And at least once a month, the women take the lead to launch a sanitation drive so that any litter that has accumulated in the village is cleared.

The second is about Balrampur District in Eastern Uttar Pradesh where good development indicators hardly existed in the past, but in recent months the district’s sanitation efforts have produced significant results, thanks to the close cooperation the administration has developed with voluntary organisations – the Aga Khan Foundation stands out again.

Supported by UNICEF, the organisation has made a difference to the sanitation scene in a remote district. Its grassroots activities have convinced the people about health hazards of open defecation and the benefits of making the village open defecation free. Training programmes are organised for sanitation resource persons who play an important role in motivating people, and for masons who make the toilets. What has been most satisfying is that the majority of people have not only constructed toilets but are actually using them. The women must be thanking their stars.