From improved groundwater quality to managing solid and liquid waste, the mission's impact has been substantial, but the journey towards a cleaner India must continue
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched by PM Narendra Modi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti in 2014. The mission has completed ten years and during this period 120 million families have been provided access to safe sanitation at their homes. The rural household latrines have transformed the lives of the masses, especially about human health and well-being. It has cut open defecation and UNICEF’s report in 2018 indicates that there is a saving of 5.2 per cent of GDP in a year on this count. The other observed benefits are preventing pollution of groundwater, less infant mortality and better attendance for girl children in schools. Though nearly 4000 cities are certified to have maintained hygiene and cleanliness, the challenge for users and managers is to keep it all functional and used continuously.
The golden decade of Indian sanitation is being celebrated this year starting from 17th September 2024 (PM’s birthday) to 2nd October 2024, Gandhi Jayanti. Let me examine in this piece as to what are the hits and misses of the mission and also indicate the possible roadmap for the future. Civic agencies and local bodies have done their bit for the success of the mission. The annual ranking of city corporations on this front has made them highly competitive. Cities like Indore, Mysuru and Lucknow and several others have secured high ranks, which has induced other city corporations to do more work for better ranks. The segregation of solid wastes into wet and dry has taken a big leap. The processing of urban wastes which used to be 18 per cent in 2014 has gone up to 80 per cent today. The management of solid waste disposal sites has remained a challenge. The generation of electricity and biofuel from dry wastes has not picked up as yet. However, use of the wet wastes to generate compost and biogas is relatively better performing. More innovation, use of technology and investment can be a game changer. The bigger problem is the management of nearly 220 million tonnes of waste in the landfills around many cities. Mountains of garbage at Ghazipur, Okhala, Bhalswa and Bandhwari in and around the national capital have been engaging the attention of governments, experts and Courts for quite some time, but no workable solution has been found.
Liquid wastes are a more serious problem. The civic agencies allowing sewage to flow through open drains have to ensure that all such drains are concealed, lest the sewage mixes with the flood water and can find its way into urban water bodies. Further, the sewer lines carrying household sewage and the soak pits are to be periodically checked and repaired so that no leakage takes place and underground aquifers are not contaminated. A sewage treatment plant (STP) provided at the inlet point of a water body should be functional and no untreated sewage should be allowed to ingress into the water body without treatment. Local bodies and municipalities must ensure that individual houses do not connect their sewer line to stormwater drains, which often happens in thickly populated slums. The water flowing in stormwater drains ends up in the water body directly without going through any treatment. The mixing of sewage in the stormwater drains can be quite harmful and must be prevented at all costs. Bengaluru’s city corporation used to generate 1400 Million litres per day (MLD) of sewage in 2005-06 and 2006-07, however, less than 400 MLD used to go through STP. Going through STP does not mean that the said quantity was treated; often the managers of STP switched off power mischievously to save on cost. At present 1700 MLD sewage is generated, and nearly three-quarters of it goes through STP. The story in other metropolitan cities is similar. STP capacity has to be increased across the country to prevent the contamination of groundwater, which is otherwise the source of many water-borne diseases. Further, there should be stricter vigilance on the management so that these do not malfunction. Plastics and polythene have become the parts of our lives.
It has its share of impacting our health and also that of wild animals and livestock. Especially single-use plastics are thrown haphazardly and find their way either into the mountain of garbage or into the water bodies. It is also directly consumed by livestock, wild animals as well as aquatic life, some of which suffocate and die. Imagine fishes feeding on it and our non-vegetarian friends relishing fishes. Microplastics are in all our blood and are a very big health hazard.
The introduction of bio-latrines in trains has been quite a revolution. Before 2014 train tracks even abetting the platforms used to be filled with human excreta, a repulsive site that no one likes to look at. This has been overcome through wonderful innovation. However, as the trains pass through the outskirts of big cities, the dumps containing plastics and polythene are seen on either side. It is often very painful to watch. We need to make changes in our behaviour and ensure that the uses are brought to a minimum.
We must honour the ban on single-use plastics imposed by the central government. Education and awareness campaigns must be run this fortnight when we are celebrating the golden decade of Indian sanitation. Burning of debris is often found to be an easy method in the dry season to get rid of weeds and garbage. Punjab and Haryana farmers after harvesting the paddy are in the habit of burning the stubble to prepare the field for growing wheat. Unfortunately, the season of stubble burning coincides with a weather system that has practically no vertical circulation of air and oxides of nitrogen and carbon emitted during burning do not escape into the upper atmosphere resulting in smog all around big cities.
This causes difficulties in breathing and is a serious health hazard for the citizens. Most aware citizens have been preventing any burning of weeds and garbage in their neighbourhood. This fortnight provides an opportunity to conduct many education and awareness campaigns. When plastics and polythene are burnt along with garbage and weeds, more obnoxious gases are emitted and it may be very difficult to stay around. All such emissions are greenhouse gases and find a place in the upper atmosphere when the weather pattern Is favourable. Among these gases, carbon dioxide is a nonreactive compound and it stays in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. It accelerates the temperature rise. We are already facing adverse consequences in the warming world. We must bring changes in our behaviour.
(The writer is Retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Head of Forest Force, Karnataka; views are personal)
