Indian NGO to build model toilets in Kabul

Answering a call from Afghanistan for low-cost alternatives in sanitation, the Sulabh International, a non-governmental organisation, is all set to build five model toilets in Kabul.

The project is in the final stages of preparation, a spokeswoman for the NGO said, and added that it has the assistance of the Indian government.

It is part of an initiative to rebuild the war-ravaged country with low-cost infrastructure projects and marks the expansion of Indo-Afghan cooperation in the fields of sanitation, healthcare and environmental protection, she said.

Kabul Mayor Ghulam Sakhi Noorzad and Policy and Coordination head of Kabul Municipality Mohd Ali Niazi visited the Sulabh campus in New Delhi on Wednesday in connection with the project.

Dr Noorzad went around the Sulabh campus, met senior engineers and experts and discussed the possibilities of extending technology to Afghanistan, it said.

"We are building virtually a new nation out of the ruins of the old. The role of India in the Afghan national reconstruction is truly notable. Sulabh is our partner in the process," the mayor was quoted as having said on the occasion.

Sulabh will build the toilets, maintain them and train local staff in the technical and maintenance aspects. As part of its drive to weed out manual scavenging, Sulabh has built about eight lakh low-cost toilets across India.