In Tamil Nadu’s Nellivasal village, scholars at a central authority college needed to defecate within the open because of the loss of right kind lavatories. Architect Barnala Michael together with his pals Vishnupriya and Sivaraj built cheap, sustainable lavatories, addressing hygiene problems and selling eco-friendly practices.
Only a whilst in the past, scholars within the govt college in Tamil Nadu’s Nellivasal village have been pressured to head out within the open for defecation. With none right kind rest room facility, they urinated on the nook of the campus development at evening, making a stench in all the hostel block that made it insufferable to take a seat within the eating house of the varsity.
Situated within the hilly wooded area house of the Jawadhu Hills (Japanese Ghats) in Tirupathur district, the tribal village college lacked rest room amenities, owing to its far off location and monetary constraints.
This endured till architect Barnala Michael and a bunch of like-minded pals got here in combination to unravel the social factor thru collective effort and crowdfunding. Retaining the restrictions in thoughts, they followed an unconventional design manner with distinctive rest room gadgets and cost-effective development strategies and methods.
Apparently, they built 3 lavatories and an open bathtub house that charge Rs 2.5 lakh — a 30 p.c aid in overall charge in comparison to standard development strategies. The methodology allowed them to finish the undertaking in only one month regardless of the restricted monetary and human assets.
We sat down with Michael to know how they embarked in this project to build cheap, sustainable lavatories within the govt college of Nellivasal.
The adventure started when Vishnupriya, an architect became documentary filmmaker, got here throughout a heartbreaking information file a couple of younger woman who tragically misplaced her existence because of well being headaches from constipation, brought about by means of the absence of lavatories in her college.
This hectic incident propelled her into motion. After preliminary discussions together with her Fb buddy, Sivaraj, who runs Cuckoo Motion — a bunch of like-minded other people and pals — in combination, they approached Michael to plan a plan to unravel the problem.
“Maximum people who have been a part of the undertaking come from spaces of water shortage. Now we have identified the problems of bathroom amenities and the ache of open defecation. This drawback aggravates all over the wet season. This used to be a not unusual emotional ache level, which motivated us to return in combination to unravel this drawback,” says Michael.
This dire state of affairs the place youngsters have been pressured to defecate within the open because of the loss of right kind amenities, struck a chord with Sivaraj and Michael and led them to focal point their efforts at the govt college in Nellivasal village.
“The explanation why we selected to build lavatories in Nellivasal village used to be as a result of its tricky terrain the place development of lavatories used to be difficult and faculty youngsters have been pressured to defecate within the open. This might be a kick off point and end up to be an instance for different an identical places,” Michael says.
When the crew went to the federal government college in Nellivasal, they discovered a rest room used to be built at the premises, basically utilized by the lecturers and ladies all over college hours. On the other hand, Michael says, there used to be no rest room facility for hostellers. “Once we enquired, we were given to understand that the varsity have been seeking to get price range for development of lavatories however they may no longer be successful,” he provides.
The crew sought permission from the wooded area division to build cheap and sustainable lavatories for the varsity. “We got a month’s time. We discovered that mobilising development fabrics and employees used to be tricky within the house. So, we had to be good in development lavatories which would require much less charge, time, and assets,” he provides.
Apparently, the undertaking used to be solely funded by means of volunteers of the Cuckoo organisation.
From design, charge, methodology: establishing distinctive lavatories
After getting ready a coarse design for bathrooms in October 2023, Michael and the crew began establishing the lavatories. They hired leading edge development tactics, choosing ferrocement constructions to scale back prices and expedite the development procedure.
“Ferrocement development methodology is a cheap approach this is much less labour extensive. On this, strengthened cement is implemented over a rooster steel mesh. Moreover, we used polycarbonate sheet, a translucent subject material that permits herbal mild and outdoor visibility that might allow scholars to really feel slight resemblance with their outdated techniques,” he says.
The crew extensively utilized a leech pit machine for waste control, turning human waste into herbal manure for the varsity’s lawn. “On this machine, two pits are hooked up to the bathroom and they’re constructed such that water will get tired thru its partitions and forged waste stays within the pit. When one pit will get stuffed, excreta is gathered within the subsequent pit. In the meantime, forged waste within the former becomes manure in that length,” he says.
Michael explains, “Water is the primary medium for the expansion of microbes. Whilst you take away water from forged waste, it does no longer purpose any dangerous odor. Pits that experience porous partitions allow the contents to seep into the bottom. Sawdust is implemented to arrest the dangerous odor and microbial enlargement. This can be a sustainable and herbal means of waste control.”
But even so, Michael says they’ve designed the lavatories in this type of means that pulls the pastime of scholars who have been familiar with open defecation. “We constructed lavatories in oval spherical shapes and decorated with colourful colors to draw the scholars to make use of the enclosed area,” he says.
This eco-friendly manner no longer handiest addressed hygiene considerations but in addition promoted sustainable practices throughout the neighborhood. The undertaking used to be finished by means of November 2023.
The affect in their paintings used to be instant and profound. The newly built lavatories no longer handiest equipped crucial amenities but in addition induced a behavioural alternate a number of the scholars. These days, about 80 rural scholars are the usage of those lavatories.
Kalaiselvi (16), a Elegance 12 scholar of the varsity, tells The Higher India, “Previous when there have been no lavatories, I might face a large number of issues, particularly all over menstruation. Even if we used the bathroom intended for lecturers, now and again we needed to move out within the open. Those new lavatories have introduced immense convenience to us. I actually just like the construction of the lavatories and in addition the artwork made on them!”
In the meantime, Michael who visited the varsity a month again, stocks, “I discovered the lavatories have been functioning correctly. Now, there’s no such factor of dangerous odor on campus and kids are main a typical college existence. The enhanced sanitation prerequisites enhanced cleanliness, punctuality, and total well-being of the varsity neighborhood.”
“We are hoping that the theory of eco-toilets spreads to colleges in different portions of the rustic the place scholars lack get admission to to lavatories. With our instance, we are hoping to encourage architects, engineers, college lecturers, and govt officers to offer dignity to our scholars, give protection to the surroundings, and embody sustainability,” he provides.
Edited by means of Pranita Bhat. All pictures: Prem Kumar.