PANAJI: Goa is likely to become the country’s first state to procure bio-toilets for identified individual houses not having toilets as part of the government’s continued efforts to eliminate open defecation from the state.
The Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) conducted a survey in December last year on the total number of households not having toilet facilities and the survey revealed the need to construct 3,011 household toilets.
The GSUDA has floated tender inviting vendors to provide fibre reinforced plastic-made bio-toilets developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and costing between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 to those identified households. The urban local bodies will have to bear 85 per cent of the cost towards procurement of the bio-toilets while the cost-sharing pattern of the state and the Centre will remain the same as under the Swacchh Bharat initiative. No beneficiary will get cash to install such toilets.
“The installation of the bio-toilets will be completed within three months. We have started the process of procuring the bio-toilets. We recently had a pre-bid meet with four vendors, who evinced interest in supplying and installing the bio-toilets but they sought some clarification and so we floated yet another tender with the necessary changes,” the GSUDA official said.
Among the 14 municipal bodies, Margao, Mapusa, Bicholim, Mormugao, Ponda, Valpoi, Canacona, Sankhali and Quepem were leading with a sizeable number of open-defecation wards which accounts for 50 to 80 per cent of the wards.
The DRDO has developed two categories of bio-digesters – one made up of metal for soil-bound regions and the other made up of metal, fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP). The bio-digester technology has been developed by the Gwalior-based Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) and the Tezpur-based Defence Research Laboratory (DRL) with the objective of resolving the problems of un-decomposed human waste.
“Since it does not require septic tanks and sewage lines, the bio-toilets can be installed much faster than a regular RCC toilet. While the latter requires land, permission and a minimum of two months for construction, a bio-toilet can be installed in just a couple of days without any conditions. The saving in cost factor is also 70 per cent less compared to a regular RCC toilet,” a GSUDA official said.
For procuring the bio-toilets, the urban local bodies will have to utilise funds allotted under the 14th Finance Commission, which has more than doubled the grant for the local bodies and recommended that nearly all of the money be spent on improving basic services.
The bio-digester-based toilet has already found its way into railway coaches, tourist buses and small homes and was extensively set up in Lakshadweep islands over the years. It has the potential to be used in all terrains – plains, deserts and marshy lands.
The innovation degrades and converts the human waste into usable water and gases in an eco-friendly manner. The process involves bacteria, which feed upon the faecal matter inside the tank through an anaerobic process, which finally degrades the matter and releases methane gas, which can be used for cooking, along with the treated water.
However, it is advised to not use harsh chemicals to clean the bio-toilets. Cleaning agents that are highly acidic and alkaline in nature can kill the bacteria in the bio-digester units.