Urban Water

This paper published by the Water for People describes Sanitation as a Business, an innovative approach to operation and maintainance challenges in household sanitation improvements, by describing the case of the implementation of the approach in the context of Malawi, by Water for People. The paper argues that programs that build latrines have consistently struggled to have impact or reach scale, and have often distorted the market environment in ways that have undermined future sanitation development.

The paper emphasises the relevance of this approach in the context of developing countries such as India by stating that the world would not be able to achieve even half of the Millennium Development Goals for sanitation at current rates of installation and consequently is projected to miss the sanitation MDG by more than 700 million people. Among the twenty two percent of those without access to improved sanitation, the greatest challenge remains in Asia and India in particular.

This article published in the Indian Journal of Public Health highlights the importance of sanitation as hygienic means of dealing with health of populations and presents the history and the definition of sanitation and highlights t

The objective of the scheme is to convert or construct low cost sanitation units through sanitary two pit pour flush latrines with superstructures and appropriate variations to suit local conditions (area specific latrines) and construct new latrines where economically weaker sections household have no latrines and follow the in-human practice of defecating in the open in urban areas. This would improve overall sanitation in the towns.

This presentation by Sekhar Raghavan, Director, Rain Centre, Chennai, India highlights the experiences and the challenges faced by Rain Centre in introducing ecological sanitation in the coastal town of Kovalam near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India along with Coastal and Rural development Trust (CRDT), a small non profit centre based in Kovalam .

The coastal town of Kovalam was selected as a case because of its peculiar situation with its location in a fast developing  peri-urban area in proximity to Chennai city characterised by good groundwater situation, adequate land and housing facilities, but with a glaring and urgent need and demand for toilets.

Content courtesy: India WASH Forum

This global study attempts systematically to understand and thus help practitioners manage the political economy of pro-poor sani­tation investments and service provision.

It aims to provide practical advice to multi-lateral agencies and sanitation practitioners to help them better manage stakehol­der relations and effectively maneuver within the complex institutional relationships of the sanitation sector in order to enhance the design, implementation, and effectiveness of operations that provide pro-poor sanitation investments and services. The ultimate goal is to improve health and hygiene outcomes.

This study follows current approaches to political economy - interdisciplinary inquiry drawing upon social and political theory and economic principles - to understand how poli­tical actors, institutions, and economic processes influence each other. This study’s conceptual framework combines a diagnostic component with a typology of actions to help translate analytical findings into more effective support to operations and investments.

Forwarded to the portal by: Graduates Welfare Association, Fazilka

This paper in Journal of Earth System Science attempts to estimate the possible rate of land subsidence of Kolkata City including Salt Lake City and the adjoining East Kolkata Wetlands located at the lower part of the deltaic alluvial plain of South Bengal basin. Land subsidence is an environmental hazard which is caused by overdraft of groundwater or oil extraction and results in gradual settling or sudden sinking of the earth’s surface owing to subsurface movement of the materials of the earth. 

It indicates that the aquatic ecosystem of an area disappeared due to unplanned development of agro ecosystems and human settlements. This area was earlier covered with ponds, wetlands and ox-bow lakes. Now, during the rainy season, inhabitants of these wards face severe problem of water logging and pollution. 

The various possible PPP structures for the sector were studied, and their applicability assessed in the context of the selected sample cities. Consultations led to development of term sheets for these PPP structures, which were identified as most suitable and feasible for implementation.

The above exercise has led to development of this report, which may be considered as a tool kit designed to help decision makers decide whether a particular project might be suitable for the PPP route or not. The tool kit can, therefore, be the basis for approving a project implementation structure as part of the overall project approval methodology.