Sanitation and Hygiene

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December 13, 2022
Mobilising communities for WASH
WaterAid India’s partnership with USAID and Gap Inc. benefits 2400 villages across 7 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

WaterAid has focused on establishing community-led water quality monitoring & surveillance (Image: Anil Gulati/India Water Portal Flickr)
October 15, 2022
Evaluating WaSH conditions spatially at the panchayat level
Synthesis of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) spatial pattern in rural India: an integrated interpretation of WaSH practices
People in rural areas lack potable water, and use unsafe sanitation and hygiene facilities (Image: Sebastian Dahl)
December 2, 2021
The loo loop
Public toilets and choice of work for women
Separation between women and men’s toilets (Image: Rajesh Pamnani; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
October 15, 2021
Hand hygiene, a public policy issue
Interventions to promote hand hygiene should be designed based on an understanding of what people care about, says report on ‘State of the world’s hand hygiene’
Girls learn the value of hand-washing (Image: Kristen Kelleher, USAID, Pixnio)
October 4, 2021
Understanding the thinking behind IEC in large programs
Lessons from the Swachh Bharat Mission experience
Pop culture icons like Gabbar Singh are painted on the walls of a toilet complex in New Delhi (Image: Project Raahat, Enactus)
July 6, 2021
Billions lack access to WASH services
If trends persist, billions will be left without critical, life-saving WASH services, says a SDG monitoring report
Between 2016 and 2020, the global population with safely managed drinking water at home increased from 70% to 74% (Image: Pxhere)
More than just toilets needed to clean India
Posted on 12 Sep, 2016 01:42 PM
Behaviour change and not just toilets needed for Swachh Bharat
A study conducted by the Global Sanitation Fund in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha and Maharashtra has revealed that a number of
WASH away diarrhoea
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is unlikely to be effective unless it understands the influence of the complementarity of WASH variables on the incidence of diarrhoea in India.
Arjita Dutta
Gitanjali Hajra
Shyama V Ramani
Posted on 09 Sep, 2016 05:35 PM

Diarrhoeal diseases are a leading cause for childhood mortality and morbidity worldwide. India registers the third highest proportion of child deaths caused by diarrhoea in South Asia [1]. According to Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, 2012, diarrhoeal diseases are the most prevalent of all water-related diseases in India [2].
WASH infrastructure and diarrhoea. (Source: India Water Portal)
Asli Tarakki in the NCR
Posted on 05 Sep, 2016 11:19 PM
Campaign launched to improve sanitation in the NCR 
The ministry of urban development has launched a new awareness campaign–Asli tarakki–aimed at improving sanitation in six cities in the national cap
Dignity and self-respect to drive Swachh Bharat
Posted on 29 Aug, 2016 01:14 PM
Government mulls making 'dignity and self-respect' the focal points of Swachh Bharat 
Manual scavenging: The caste connection
The Balmiki caste has been marginalised for their association with manual scavenging. Swacch Bharat Mission needs to put an end to this evil to save a population from discrimination.
Paul D’Souza
Posted on 24 Aug, 2016 09:07 PM

Manual scavenging has been glorified since the time of Mahatma Gandhi. It hasn’t changed now with prime minister Narendra Modi describing it as an “experience in spirituality”. Manual scavenging is dehumanising. And despite the laws created to abolish it, the news of manual scavenging and manual scavengers dying in sewers and septic tanks are not unheard of.
A manual scavenger at work. (Source: Flickr Commons)
Notes from Swachh Madhya Pradesh campaign
Nipun Vinayak, Director, Swachh Bharat Mission, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, writes about Madhya Pradesh's progress on the ground.
Nipun Vinayak
Posted on 21 Aug, 2016 09:56 PM

Ajit Tiwari, deputy commissioner, Swachh Bharat Mission, Madhya Pradesh.Ajit Tiwari is Deputy Commissioner, Swachh Bharat Mission, Madhy
Sudam Khade, collector, Sehore, felicitates a woman from the community for their efforts in ending open defecation.
Children of a lesser God
Underprivileged children are the most affected by Assam’s annual floods. Their schools washed away and health affected, they also fall prey to nefarious activities.
Usha Dewani
Posted on 09 Aug, 2016 10:32 PM

In what is considered the worst flood in a decade, the flood in Assam this year has swept over 2,800 villages away and submerged more than two lakh hectares of crop. More than 26 lakh people have been affected in 28 out of 34 districts of the state.
Children take refuge in temporary shelters. (Photo source: Jhai Foundation)
Improvised septic tanks to deal with groundwater pollution
Posted on 08 Aug, 2016 09:04 AM
Badly constructed, ill-maintained latrines contaminate Namakkal's groundwater
Sewage seeping into the ground from septic tanks has remained a serious concern in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district for a while.
Bio-loos on track, Railways to clean up its act
Dumping excreta on the rail tracks is not just an abhorrent practice, it also corrodes the tracks. With bio-toilets underway, the Railways hopes to fix it.
Seetha Gopalakrishnan
Posted on 03 Aug, 2016 10:27 AM

For almost two decades, the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act of 1993 was a paralytic occupant of the statute books. The Act prohibited the construction of dry toilets which required faeces to be removed manually and outlawed manual scavenging.
A rail coach fitted with bio-toilet. (Courtesy: India Railway Info)
Thanks to dirty water, Indian children stunted
News this week
Swati Bansal
Posted on 30 Jul, 2016 11:39 PM

India has largest number of stunted children in the world: Study
Stunting in children highest in India. (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
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