Toilets and Urinals

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September 26, 2022
Dirty drains 'drain' health
This study found that the sanitary quality of neighbourhood drains, in addition to toilets, affected sanitation and hygiene and incidences of ill-health in rural households.
Dirty drainages, harbingers of illhealth. Image for representation only (Image Source: SuSanA Secretariat via Wikimedia Commons)
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)
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)
May 11, 2021
Bathing spaces for women - crucial for WASH!
Bathing spaces and not toilets alone, aid women in maintaining health and hygiene. It is time the Swachh Bharat Mission pays attention to bathing spaces as well!
A temperory bathing space with no water and privacy in a fishing village in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: India Water Portal)
December 20, 2020
Putting faecal sludge management on track
The cost and revenue projections for both on-demand and scheduled desludging scenarios were elaborated upon in the faecal sludge management plan for Dhen­kanal Municipality.
Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant at Dhenkanal, Odisha
December 18, 2020
Faecal sludge management policy environment for small towns: Taking a wider view
Project Nirmal helped Odisha to become a front runner among states with a comprehensive policy framework on faecal sludge management.
Odisha is trying to fa­cilitate adoption of FSM by Urban Local Bodies so that sewage, septage/ faecal sludge, and liquid waste is safely managed, treated, and dis­posed. (Image: SCI-FI, CPR)
Northeast fights Covid-19
While Northeast appears to be better off than the rest of India in the number of Covid cases, how are migrants from the North East coping?
Christopher Rego
Posted on 09 Jun, 2020 11:34 PM

While Covid-19 has left many countries including India in the line of fire, the situation in India is now getting particularly alarming with the number of people infected by Covid-19 rising at a rapid pace.
Ration distribution to the migrants (Image Source: Sunbird Trust)
Mumbai slums fight Covid-19
While sanitation in Mumbai slums presents unique challenges, MCGM joins hands with other sanitation warriors to fight Covid-19, with conviction!
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 26 May, 2020 06:43 AM

Anand Jagtap, ex Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), the winner of the Lingaraja Memorial Award and a PhD scholar at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai has been associated with the Slum Sanitation Programme (SSP) undertaken by MCGM with support from the World Bank since 1997 to 2005.
Flushing the virus, in times of Covid-19 (Image Source: Anand Jagtap)
Menstrual hygiene needs, in times of Covid-19
While women in India suffer in silence during menstruation, Red is the New Green helps women cope with dignity, even more in times of Covid-19
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 25 May, 2020 11:06 AM

Deane De Menezes is the founder of Red is the New Green (RING) – an award winning social enterprise working towards reducing the social stigma attached to menstruation.
Managing menstrual hygiene, in times of Covid-19 (Image Source: RISE Foundation)
Flushing away Covid-19, the Mumbai way!
While Mumbai slums have emerged as Covid-19 hotspots, Triratna Prerna Mandal (TPM) is moving ahead with conviction, to tackle the sanitation situation and ‘flush the virus’!
Aniket Jadhav
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 23 May, 2020 11:55 AM

Slums, fast growing Covid-19 hotspots!
Training safai and cremation workers on safe practices during the corona pandemic (Image Source: Triratna Prerna Mandal)
WASH warriors, in the making!
In addition to improving WASH facilities, changing WASH behaviour at a young age can go a long way in coping with infectious diseases like Covid-19 in the future!
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 15 May, 2020 03:17 PM

Citizens Association for Child Rights (CACR) works with municipal schools in Mumbai with a focus on WASH and menstrual hygiene management and even a digital literacy programme.
WASH warriors, in the making! (Image Source: CACR)
FAQs: Faecal sludge and septage management
There is a need to adopt safe practices in collection, transport, treatment of septage and faecal waste, and appropriate options in disposal or safe reuse of treated black water.
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 26 Apr, 2020 03:53 PM

This primer provides the basics related to most aspects of faecal sludge and septage management. Please click on a topic to view more detailed information.

What is faecal sludge and septage management?
Empty faecal sludge drying bed (Image: Lars Schoebitz)
Covid-19 leaves women in the line of fire
While the Covid-19 pandemic has affected both men and women from the informal sector differently, gender analysis is missing from India’s Covid-19 response strategy
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 19 Apr, 2020 06:30 AM

The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc worldwide and India continues to be in the line of fire. While cases continue to rise, India also is experiencing a crisis of another kind, that of the lockdown affecting the livelihoods of a large number of workers from the informal sector.
Covid treats women differently (Image Source: Simon Williams/ Ekta Parishad via Wikimedia Commons)
Water, the first line of defence against climate change
A report by WaterAid calls for a tenfold increase in current levels of climate finance that goes to WASH services.
WaterAid India
Posted on 22 Mar, 2020 09:50 AM

Water insufficiency is a challenging problem globally with 1 in 10 people lacking a basic water pump or covered well close to home.
Shantilata uses a cloth to filter out the high iron content in the salty water, filled from a hand pump, in the village Sitapur on the outskirts of Bhadrak, Bhuvaneshwar, Odisha (Image: WaterAid/ Anindito Mukherjee)
The miserable plight of sanitation workers
A report highlights the dangers for the millions of people who clean toilets, sewers and septic tanks the world over and calls for urgent action.
World Bank
International Labour Organization
WaterAid
World Health Organization
Posted on 29 Feb, 2020 06:01 PM

Many of the challenges sanitation workers face, stem from their lack of visibility in society, says a report ‘Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers’ produced jointly by The World Bank,

A latrine emptier is lifted out of a pit in Bangalore, India (Image: WaterAid/CS Sharada Prasad)
Suffering in silence: Migrant cane cutters of Maharashtra
Overworked, poorly paid and deprived of any rights, migrant cane cutters, especially women are most vulnerable and continue to suffer from a number of health and security risks.
Pooja Adhikari
Vani Shree
Posted on 27 Feb, 2020 10:04 PM

Maharashtra is the second largest sugar producing state in India, after Uttar Pradesh where as high as 1.6 million farmers cultivate sugarcane on 0.7 million hectares of land. The sugarcane industry provides direct employment to about 0.16 million workers while 1.5 million workers engage in sugarcane harvesting and transport operations every year.
Women workers suffer the most (Image Source: Azhar Feder, Wikimedia Commons-CC-BY-SA-3.0)
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