Basic Shit is making public urinals in the city without any government funding. Founder Ashwani Aggarwal spoke to GANITA about his journey
When you are out of home the whole day the biggest issue you face is where to urinate. If you are travelling to any mall or restaurant then you will be saved. Only if you are not, you feel troubled. When no urinals are present nearby people urinate openly on the streets. Ashwani Agarwal, a young entrepreneur, along with his team has come up with a solution to this problem. He has laid the foundations of a public art project called Basic Shit. Under the project public urinals have been built at Dhaula Kuan, lodhi Colony and AIIMS in Delhi. They are free to use.
He started it as a college project to create awareness about sanitation around two years ago. He, along with the team, started interviewing the people found urinating on the streets and found out that they do feel awkward while relieving themselves in public, but in the absence of conveniences, they go wetting the street walls. He wanted to provide a solution to the problem rather than making noise. After various case studies, he discerned that the number of public toilets in Delhi is very less. Even if urinals are present, they are not free to use or are so poorly maintained that urinating on the streets is chosen as an easy way to relieve the pressure. After working on this awareness campaign for a considerable time he realised that awareness is important; but more important is making urinals accessible. “Research made me realise that along with awareness, innovative solutions were required to be set up within the realm of governing bodies,” said Ashwani.
“In the beginning it was a little hard for me to carry on with the toilet idea. In India if you work on something like this people look down upon you. My parents were also against me and I didn't have much funds,” he stated. He went forward, “The material required for the toilets needed to be bought and we needed money.” Eventually he along with the squad participated in ABD’s competition. The theme of the contest was based on finding solutions to sanitary challenged in the region. Basic Shit was in the top three entries and found some financial support for the project from there. His parents became confident about what their son was doing.
He is a designer and professes interior and grapic designing. The money that comes from designing is used as fund for this project. They are also working on urinals for women and mobile versions. “We recently tested urinals on e-rickshaws and it worked quite well,” told Ashwani. They are also looking for innovative ways to make toilets less malodorous. “We are trying to collaborate with companies which will help us convert urine to electricity,” he ended.