Words Rusen Kumar
NEW DELHI (India CSR): Amit Mittal is the Chairman and Managing Director of A2Z Group, a leading diverse business house in India. Mittal has B.Tech degree in Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and has nearly 20 years of experience in project management and execution in the power, oil and infrastructure sectors. In his visionary leadership, A2Z has emerged as a global player in the area of cleanliness by providing housekeeping, facility services, hygienic services, and waste management in rural and urban areas. A2Z Group having ₹2000 Cr turnover and pan India presence with 18,000 employees and supporting skill development, providing employment to weaker section in particular.
Amit Mittal spoke with Rusen Kumar, Editor, IndiaCSR and CSR COMPETITIVENESS about his company’s vision, CSR, Swachh Bharat Mission and IT enabled innovative Eco Smart Toilet. Edited excerpts:
Kindly share the vision of your Company.
Our company has always been towards cleanliness by providing housekeeping, facility services, hygienic services and waste management in rural and urban areas. Magic Genie B2C business provides household services for consumers. Community views toilet as a product, whereas company visualizes this essential service as it is committed to deliver hygienic sanitation facilities to the society. Its reach to citizens in mass made the company innovate the toilet and provide a solution which is hygienic and environmental friendly.
Please give more insight about Magic Genie.
Magic Genie is an initiative to ensure effective Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for entire nation covering from individual household to limitlessly to all terrains and locations and in all sectors. Magic Genie is bridging the gap between wish list of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and actual implementation of plans. Magic Genie is developing habits for cleanliness starting from every house by providing B2C and Safai Mitra services, High Tech Sanitation from its Eco Smart Environmental friendly toilet for public use by replacing conventional means and methods by Technology Driven Practices and bringing ease and comfort. These habits will make every citizen a Brand Ambassador of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and help maintain Swachh Bharat. I visualise Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat & Samarth Bharat.
The need of the Eco Smart Toilet
With the growing problem of sanitation, lack of Hygienic facilities, depleting ground water table and deteriorating ground water quality are threatening the sustainability of both urban and rural water supply in many developing countries. Hence there is a need for an environment friendly toilet that is cost effective, provides real time treatment of waste water and generates make up water, requires less area for its construction and does not dispose the waste water with solid waste.
Kindly share about the features of a Smart and Green Toilet
Eco Smart toilet has all innovative features. The system is so designed that with every event human excreta flowing from Western Commode (WC) enters to a black box once user has flushed the system after use. This black box separates solid from liquid instantly. While treatment is on the solid part where solid gets converted to inert liquid enters to another chamber where it is treated. Passing through many filtration stages of real time treatment liquid enters to a chamber where in its oxygen level is improved too. After treatment this liquid also passes the Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment chamber where it becomes suitable for body part washing. All this treatment controls Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS) levels of water and makes it suitable for reuse and is stored in overhead tank. The solid trapped in black box can be evacuated once black box is full and replaced with new black box. So no waste is generated from this toilet and no additional makeup water is needed to maintain the toilet. Eco Smart Toilet is also equipped with many IT controlled features which automatically clean the inside floor, door opening, system alarms etc. Water used to clean the floor also gets treated and is made usable. In all this is an experience of its kind.
What are the key objectives of the innovation project?
1. To provide an environment friendly toilet that requires less water in comparison to conventional toilets and does not require any sewage connection.
- To provide an environment friendly toilet that is IT Enabled and cost-effective.
- To provide an environment friendly, Zero Waste generation toilet that needs less maintenance.
- Water saving of minimum 100 KL per toilet per annum.
- To provide an environment friendly toilet that can be constructed on difficult terrains. To provide unmanned operations through remote controlling and monitoring.
- A facility which can be used by both males and females.
- To provide an environment friendly toilet that is safe and secure and a show case for “WOW” Services.
- Other objects and advantages of this toilet will be more apparent from the using this toilet.
Say something about the product appropriateness and utility value.
Cities, Rural Areas, Highways, Public places, Markets, Heritage sites, Temples, Beaches, Army, Railways, Camps etc. Its mission is to install these toilets Pan India and promote this ‘Make in India’ product in the International market.
What is your thought on Toilet and related services?
Our Toilet should not be considered as a product but rather consider as a “Service”. Company has provided a solution to most awful problem in sanitation and also delivered a platform for those companies who wish to install Toilet under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. Also government can be benefited from the service under Swachh Bharat Mission by installing the toilets.
How it supports the community?
I believe that the biggest reason for failure of any toilet is lack of water. Our Eco Smart toilet is unique and does not require any make up water and does real time treatment of human excreta. Solid is converted to inert and liquid is treated real time for reuse and maintains water quality standards.
Say something about the impact?
Saving of minimum of 100Kilo Litres water per toilet per annum which can supplement additional water needs. No Sewage connection required so maintaining hygienic and eco-friendly environment and cost saving of the waste treatment.
How it is linked to skill development and creating employment for weaker section?
It is an experience of its kind. It is not a product but a service to support the basic needs of our society. Areas which lack sewage connection and water, these toilets meet sanitation needs and can be installed in those areas. These toilets will provided highly hygienic sanitation services in areas where sudden temporary make shift needs arise especially in fairs, camps, relief shelters or during any natural disaster etc.
What competitive advantage carries your Eco Smart Toilet?
The Eco Smart Toilet is a unique experience of its kind and will be helping the society and the nation in a big way. The impact this would have will be:
The Eco Smart Toilet reduced water demand as this toilet does not require any make up water. Economically weaker areas where water is scarce, Eco Smart Toilet will prove to be a big game changer. As real time treatment of water is done so it is also preserving the water. It does not require a sewage connection so it is also cost saving and environmental friendly. It does not have any limitation on number of usages. It will create employment for many economically weaker persons.
What is your thought on Prime Minister Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission?
I appreciate the initiative of Honourable Prime Minister has taken for Swachh Bharat. We all need to contribute to his Mission and make it a success and set an example for the whole world to follow. All such schemes should be backed up with long term operational mechanisms and implemented with well thoughts. There should be single window clearance mechanism for all those who want to get associated in such CSR which contribute to Swachh Bharat Mission.
I would rather welcome if a Swachh Bharat Ministry is created which runs such missions independent of Minister of Urban Development (MoUD) as the department has many other agendas to follow. Most importantly the funds allocation for Swachh Bharat Mission should be utilised after considering the Operations & Maintenance (O&M) aspect also of the project and not merely used as capital expenditure (CAPEX) because O&M is the key success of any project. Many projects have underperformed for the lack of O&M mechanism and funds. Let’s all be part of this mission and achieve a “Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat & Samarth Bharat.”
About the author:
Rusen Kumar is the Editor at IndiaCSR.in
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