Sanitation and Hygiene

The South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN), a government led biennial convention held on a rotational basis in each country, is a platform for dialogue and influence created by the governments of South Asian Countries to review the progress made in the area of Sanitation.  The SACOSAN process would help to generate political will to narrow the gap in Sanitation access and usage.

This booklet about the work of Exnora Green Pammal (EGP), produced by UNICEF and published by the Government of Tamil Nadu,  illustrates examples of the implementation and impact of solid waste management innovations in five localities in Tamil Nadu. The solid waste management systems in these localities are widely regarded as successes that deserve replication.This document has been produced to inspire and enable more local body authorities to emulate such successes in other parts of the country.

Improving solid waste management services in India is an urgent challenge for all levels of the government. Littering and the indiscriminate disposal of solid waste are widely practiced, polluting India's air, water, soil and inhabitants. Such pollution impedes India's efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).The nation's measures to combat malaria and other diseases (MDG 6), reduce child mortality (MDG 4), and ensure environmental sustainability (MDG 7) are all hampered by the unsightly and unhygienic conditions created by the accumulation of waste.{C}

This presentation by ACWADAM deals with hydrogeology and sanitation guidelines. Safe water supply and sanitation choices are an important public health measure and source quality improvement is critical to this. The impact of different aspects of water and sanitation appears to be largely dependent on the conditions within a particular community and existing access to other components of water and sanitation.

This manual has been prepared by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), a department under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and aims at meeting the professional needs of practising engineers dealing with the sanitation sector in the country, that focuses on achieving the goal of 'sanitation for all' within a reasonable timeframe.

The manual  is a revised version of the earlier one, which was developed in 1977 and was widely used by field engineers engaged in sewerage and sewage treatment. However, a need was felt to revise and update the earlier manual taking into consideration the advancement in technology.

This manual has been developed by the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), a department under the Ministry of Urban Development and aims at assisting the policy & decision makers, planners, managers and technical personnel involved in solid waste management activities, in safe and hygienic handling & disposal of municipal solid waste generated in the urban areas in India.

This link on the CAG website provides the details of an international conference that was held on 15-16 March 2010, in the backdrop of the environmental audit proposed by the the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, for management and conservation of the environment .

The purpose of this conference was to deliberate on the causes of pollution, action taken by governments and civil society to address this and environmental, management and legal interventions needed to put lakes, rivers and ground water on the path of sustainability.

More than 20 experts on water and water pollution issues were invited to share their views as panelists during the conference. Apart from these distinguished panelists, the heads of supreme audit institutions from countries like Austria, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan were also present to share their experiences regarding audit of water pollution in their countries.

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to visit a couple of partners in Tamil Nadu. These two partners are facing a difficult task—sanitation and hygiene implementation through community participation. One project is in the urban slums of Trichy while the other one is a rural project a few hours outside of Trichy. These communities have open defecation rates of 90%. The problem mostly lies on the women. Women feel embarrassed and ashamed to go out in the open, so as a result they only go in the early mornings or late at night—basically during pitch black. Menstrual Health is a topic that is only now being addressed with organizations developing their own branch of sanitary napkin production, sold cheaply to women in rural areas. In addition to the burden on women, open defecation pollutes water sources, thereby leading to diarrhea, one of the biggest killers of children in the developing world.

This paper by AR Shivakumar of the Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology (KSCST), presented at a national seminar organised by ISRO at NIAS Bangalore in 2010, begins by highlighting the increasing problem of scarcity of water that the city of Bangalore has been experiencing in recent years and suggests a required plan of action for a sustainable water supply system in the city.

This paper published in the South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage describes the water quality status of Gundolav Lake in Rajasthan, which was once used for drinking water as well as for recreational activities under the tutelage of the princely state of Kishangarh. This has now become a site of wastewater disposal and facing a critical threat for its sustenance. 

Recent years have led to an increasing awareness of the importance of water bodies and  the need for conservation of water bodies, especially freshwater wetlands. The Ramsar Convention (2002) identifies wetlands as the starting point for integrated water management strategies. This is because they are the source of fresh water, maintain the health of the water course and water bodies, have the capacity to supply water to meet the human needs and are a key to future water security.