To make 80 Villages
'Open Defecation Free’
Hindustan Zinc, a Sesa Sterlite company in zinc-lead-silver
business, recently launched a social awareness campaign 'MARYADAA' (www.facebook.com/maryadaa ),
to give impetus to its project of construction of toilets and spread mass
awareness in public at large, with special focus on school children about good
sanitation and hygiene habits.
On the initiative of Rajasthan Government, Hindustan Zinc has
signed an MoU to build 30,000 toilets for rural families under 'Nirmal Bharat
Abhiyan'. The company has already started the construction of these toilets in
Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Udaipur districts and so far the construction of
9,000 toilets have been completed. The balance construction is expected to be
completed within 2 years.
This initiative will make 80 rural and tribal villages in
Rajasthan 'Open Defecation Free’.
The company is constructing 2 ‘Leach Pits’ below each toilet to
facilitate disposal of waste. Only one ‘Leach Pit’ will be used at a time. Each
‘Leach Pit’ is estimated to be full in about 5 years. As the first ‘Leach Pit’
is full, the second ‘Leach Pit’ will be opened. Within 5 years, the waste in
the first ‘Leach Pit’ will be converted into manure to be utilized by the
farmer for agriculture purpose.
These newly constructed toilets will also minimize the risk of
contamination of drinking water sources thus reducing the health related
problems in rural India. Under the `Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’, cost of
construction of each toilet is Rs. 8,500/- where Rs. 4600 per toilet is being
paid by government, Rs. 3000 by Hindustan Zinc and Rs. 900 by the beneficiary.
Lack of Toilet facilities in rural areas for females has always
been a matter of concern, especially during the late hours or during pregnancy.
Toilet in each house-hold provides comfort, convenience with a sense of
security and dignity to each member of the house. The Hindustan Zinc campaign 'MARYADAA' is also expected to improve good hygiene practices and create
awareness towards health & sanitation.
The ultimate objective is to eliminate open defecation practices
in the villages and make Rajasthan an ‘Open Defecation Free State’.
According to UNICEF report, today only 48% of rural Indian
population has access to good toilet and sanitation facilities. When more than
50% of Indian population defecates in open it leads to improper disposal of the
waste, sanitation issues and cause of many harmful diseases. With Rajasthan in
particular, 60% of population defecates in open. A World Health Organization
(WHO) report has also highlighted that half a billion (50 crore) people in
India still continue to defecate in gutters, behind bushes or in open water
bodies, with no dignity or privacy.
The most credible reason for large number of population in India
still defecating in open is due to lack of awareness about the problems
associated with open defecation. Poor sanitation, hygiene and open
defecation is responsible for 50% of the cases of maternal and childhood
under-nutrition. There is a synergy between diarrhea diseases and
under-nutrition where exposure to one increases vulnerability to the other.
In Bangladesh and Brazil only 7% population defecate in open. In
China only 4% of the population defecates in open.
Government, Corporates, NGOs and common people have to come
together to address this mammoth issue which has become a matter of dignity and
concern for the rural families and the nation.
