Who was Bindeshwar Pathak, public sanitation pioneer, died at 80?

He was the founder of Sulabh International and a social activist. The 80-year-old died on Tuesday due to a cardiac arrest at a hospital in Delhi.

His organisation works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, waste management and reforms through education.

Pathak is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India.

In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize.

Sulabh has constructed nearly 13 lakh household toilets and 5.4 crore government toilets using cheap, two-pit technology.

The organisation has led a movement to discourage manual cleaning of human waste.

Pathak was born in Vaishali district in Bihar. He graduated in sociology from BN College in Patna.

He also worked as a teacher for a while and later joined the Gandhi Centenary Committee in Patna as a volunteer.

He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.