Bio-digester (bio-toilet), containing a three-square-foot cubicle, has brought about a total change in the sanitation system of lakhs of slum dwellers in urban areas, villagers and tribal living in the Chattishgarh. Encashing the success of BD’s, the State Government now has decided to expand the BD-program to 11 major cities and other slums in Raipur and Bilaspur as nearly 75.4% of the population in the state has no access to a toilet.
The Urban Development Authority of Chhatisgarh in April 2013 had invested three million bucks for a pilot study on the use of BD’s in Raipur and Bilaspur. The funds were used to buy 10 mobile and 20 stationary BD’s. The state government paid for the installation of the toilets, but to encourage the communities to take care of the facilities, they had groups of four or five families chip in to buy one toilet, which costs `30,000. The families, who get the keys to a padlocked toilet, each pay the government `150/month until the entire amount is paid.
