Ecosan is not a second rate approach
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) related to sanitation rely on flushing systems. Uno Winblad, senior adviser, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden, tells S V Suresh Babu that the ecosan approach can do the job much better
How grave is the problem posed by lack of sanitation facilities?
According to a recent sei report , 95,000 toilet systems must be installed everyday between 2003 and 2015, if we are to meet the mdg related to sanitation. Moreover, the simplistic premise that a toilet built is a toilet used doesn't hold good. And then, one must not forget that toilets become defunct after a few years. If all these factors are accounted for, we might require about 200,000 installations per day.
But is all talk on the MDGs mere eyewash?
No, it's good that sanitation is recognised as an mdg. However, the way good sanitation is understood, betrays an ignorance of ground realities. The practices promoted today are either based on hiding human excreta in deep pits or flushing them away