CAG Rajiv Mehrishi Empties Toilet Pit to Break Sanitation Taboos
To dispel sanitation taboos, CAG Rajiv Mehrishi and other government officials emptied out toilet pits in Maharashta
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In a bid to break sanitation taboos, Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Rajiv Mehrishi cleaned out and emptied a twin-pit toilet at Pandharewadi village in Pune district. He was joined by the Secretary to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Parameswaran Iyer.
The pit-emptying exercise was a part of an Open Defecation Free-Sustainability workshop. The objectives of the exercise were to dispel myths and stigmas surrounding the cleaning of such toilets and set an example to those who just preach about cleanliness and sanitation.
Following this exercise, sanitation officials in other parts of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu followed suit to spread awareness on the importance of installing twin-pit toilets in villages.
Recommended by the World Health Organisation, twin-pit toilets are safest and best-suited toilet installations in rural India. However, people largely avoid installing such toilets since there is a stigma surrounding emptying out the pits.
Twin-pit toilets consist of a superstructure, which is the toilet itself, over two underground pits which are connected to one another. Fecal matter is led to these pits through pipes. These pits absorb the nutrients from waste-matter and ultimately only need to be cleaned once they fill up.
A standard pit in a twin-pit toilet fills-up in roughly five years for a six-member family.
‘A Step Towards a Cleaner India’
Twitterati applauded the efforts of the CAG and Ministry of Sanitation in implementing the Swachh Bharat initiative.
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