Urban Sanitation

According to the World Bank (2020), 49% of the urban population in India, resides in slums. The urban slum dweller’s desire for a better life has only been partially fulfilled, as people continue to fight for necessities such as clean drinking water and adequate toilets.

Urban India continues to face the sanitation challenge and governmental efforts have contributed greatly to improving sanitation in the country. However, various non-governmental institutions have also experimented with innovative ideas in different regional contexts to meet the needs of the community and to ensure access to safe sanitation.

Highlights

More than 50% of the world's population lives in cities, which also account for 70% of all CO2 emissions. They are also disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Across the world and in India, collective organisations run by and representing women have emerged as important platforms for demanding basic amenities like water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure and services.

Safe water, sanitation and hygiene are pillars that improve the quality of life and enhance the 'ease of living' of people, especially in rural areas. In this regard, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) has made significant progress in providing drinking water and safe sanitation to rural households.

Resilience of cities depends on effective functioning of complex infrastructure networks such as water, energy, sanitation, transport along with physical infrastructure such as housing, hospitals and educational institutions.

Rural areas largely lack access to improved drinking water-sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) facilities in India. Improved WaSH facilities are vital to prevent the transmission of waterborne diseases and create resilient communities.

Informal housing caters to over one-third of the population in our cities, who cannot afford formal housing. Cities are known as engines of economy and this economy consists of over 90 per cent informal sector workers. However, housing requirements for these people have never got utmost priority by governments, post-independence.

A UN report predicts that 50 percent of India’s population will be living in urban areas by 2030.