Only a whereas in the past, college students within the authorities college 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 take a seat within the eating space of the varsity.
Positioned within the hilly forest space of the Jawadhu Hills (Japanese Ghats) in Tirupathur district, the tribal village college 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 gaggle of like-minded associates got here collectively to unravel the social situation by way of collective effort and crowdfunding. Holding the constraints in thoughts, they adopted an unconventional design strategy with distinctive rest room items and cost-effective building strategies and strategies.
Curiously, they constructed three bathrooms and an open tub space that value Rs 2.5 lakh — a 30 p.c discount in complete value in comparison with typical building strategies. The method allowed them to finish the challenge in only one month regardless of the restricted monetary and human assets.
We sat down with Michael to grasp how they launched into this mission to assemble low-cost, sustainable bathrooms within the authorities college of Nellivasal.
The journey started when Vishnupriya got here throughout a heartbreaking information report a couple of younger woman who tragically misplaced her life on account of well being issues from constipation, attributable to the absence of bathrooms in her college. 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 developing low-cost eco-friendly bathrooms for the federal government college in Nellivasal village. After preliminary discussions with a gaggle of like-minded individuals and associates, they approached Michael to plan a plan to unravel the difficulty.
“Most of us who have been a part of the challenge come from areas of water shortage. We now have recognized the problems of bathroom amenities and the ache of open defecation. This drawback aggravates in the course of the wet season. This was a standard emotional ache level, which motivated us to return collectively to unravel this drawback,” says Michael.
This dire scenario 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 crew to focus their efforts on the federal government college in Nellivasal village.
“The explanation 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 crew went to the federal government college in Nellivasal, they discovered a bathroom was constructed on the premises, primarily utilized by the lecturers and women throughout college hours. Nonetheless, Michael says, there was no rest room facility for hostellers. “Once we enquired, we obtained to know that the varsity had been attempting to get funds for building of bathrooms however they might not succeed,” he provides.
The crew 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.
Curiously, the challenge was completely funded by volunteers of the Cuckoo organisation.
From design, value, method: developing distinctive bathrooms
After making ready a tough design for bathrooms in October 2023, Michael and the crew began developing the bathrooms. They employed revolutionary building strategies, choosing ferrocement constructions to cut back prices and expedite the constructing course of.
“Ferrocement building method is a low-cost technique 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 enables pure gentle and out of doors visibility that might allow college students to really feel slight resemblance with their previous methods,” he says.
The crew 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 linked to the bathroom and they’re constructed such that water will get drained by way of 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 unhealthy scent. Pits which have porous partitions allow the contents to seep into the bottom. Sawdust is utilized to arrest the unhealthy scent and microbial progress. It’s a sustainable and pure means of waste administration.”
In addition to, Michael says they’ve designed the bathrooms in such a means that attracts 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 house,” he says.
This eco-friendly strategy not solely addressed hygiene considerations but additionally promoted sustainable practices throughout the group. The challenge was accomplished by November 2023.
The affect of their work was speedy and profound. The newly constructed bathrooms not solely supplied important amenities but additionally 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’d face quite a lot 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 in addition 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 situation of unhealthy scent on campus and kids are main a daily college life. The improved sanitation circumstances enhanced cleanliness, punctuality, and total well-being of the varsity group.”
“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, college lecturers, and authorities officers to supply dignity to our college students, defend the surroundings, and embrace sustainability,” he provides.
Edited by Pranita Bhat. All photographs: Prem Kumar.
