Dignity and self-respect to drive Swachh Bharat

The union government has zeroed in on 'dignity and self-respect' as the focal points of the Swachh Bharat Mission. The idea to reinvent the mission was reached after public consultations held by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in six cities across the country. Along with this, the government is also considering setting up a statutory National Council for Sanitation to ensure effective implementation.

 

Ecologists cite the unbridled dumping of untreated sewage over the years as the reason for the pathetic status of the Yamuna in urban stretches. Close to 20 drains empty raw sewage--both industrial and domestic--into the river as it flows through Delhi. The high organic load and the low dissolved oxygen content result in the death of micro and macro-organisms which would otherwise thrive in the river system. Close to 850 million gallons of sewage is let into the Yamuna on a daily basis, turning it into one giant drain.

 

Close to 80 percent of the waste dumped in the capital’s Ghazipur landfill will soon be segregated and put to use in the construction of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The National Highway Authority of India is expected to install a unit to segregate, process and use the garbage along with bitumen for highway construction. If successful, the process would later be replicated in city road laying projects as well. The landfill receives close to 2,500 tonnes of garbage every day.  

 

Out of the 183 e-toilets installed in the Chennai city, close to 40 percent of the units have been rendered useless by vandals within a short span of six months. The e-toilets were set up by Thiruvananthapuram-based Eram Scientific Solution Ltd., contractually bound to maintain these units for a year. Apart from instances of vandalism, 33 units remain unused as the corporation is yet to equip them with water supply and electricity.

 

With village after village inundated, the flood situation in Bihar is worsening by the day. Along with the overall angst of uncertainty and homelessless, women are struggling to relieve themselves in the absence of toilets. Activists involved in relief work have noted that the there are very few makeshift toilets in flood-hit regions, making it extremely difficult for women and children to relieve themselves.