Toilets save lives, because human waste spreads killer diseases. The World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Today, 4.5 billion people live without safely managed sanitation and 892 million people still practice open defecation. The impact of exposure to human faeces on this scale has a devastating impact upon public health, living conditions, nutrition, education and economic productivity across the world. Sustainable Development Goals 6 (SDG) aims to ensure that everyone has a safe toilet and that no one practices open defecation by 2030. Failure to achieve the goal risks the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
According to report by Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board, out of the 60 lakh people staying in 23 urban local bodies, 31 per cent approximately are defecating in open and among people using toilets, only 49 per cent households have septic tanks. Besides, only 2 per cent sewerage is treated in the State and 98 per cent either percolates to ground water or adjoining water bodies through surface drains without treatment.
The 2011 Census stated that an overwhelming 49.6 per cent of the State’s households do not have any kind bathing facility and about 1.7 lakh households (48.33 per cent) or 8.5 lakh people of the slum defecate in the open. The impacts of unsafe sanitation conditions and behaviour are immense that adversely affect the urban poor, women and children.
Odisha has an urban sanitation strategy that envisages the development of citywide sanitation plans and integration of all aspects of sanitation in an effective way with special emphasis on slums.
In 2011, the Government of Odisha notified an Urban Sanitation Strategy, with the goal of transforming urban Odisha into community-driven, totally sanitised, safe, healthy, and livable cities and towns, and outcomes in line with the National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP), 2008.
The practice of constructing septic tanks and connecting it to open drains is rampant. With the growing number of toilets now being constructed and a lack of available urban land, sludge disposal is a major issue of concern. In Bhubaneswar in many areas sewerage water either seeps into ground or flows into storm water drains to be discharged into rivers and drains. In most of the unauthorised slums, people practice open defecation. This is due to inadequate provisions for sanitation. Very few people depend on community toilets.
The Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB), which is entrusted with executing sewerage treatment plants (STPs) across the State, came up with an ambitious project – Integrated Sewerage System for Bhubaneswar City (ISSBC). The sewerage system of Bhubaneswar envisages laying of 412 km underground gravity sewer for collection of sewage of each household and establishment throughout the city in uncovered area, replacement and renovation of all existing old sewers, construction of main, intermediate and lift pumping stations, construction of sewage treatment plants and construction of low cost sanitation units in the city area. The new sewerage system has been planned by dividing the city into six sewerage districts. The project will provide good and effective sewerage services to the urban population.
The project will ensure proper treatment of generated sewage in the city area and the overall sanitation condition of the city will be improved.
2018 Theme: When Nature Calls campaign is based on the following narrative: When nature calls, we need a toilet. But, billions of people don’t have one. This means human faeces, on a massive scale, are not being captured or treated – contaminating the water and soil that sustain human life. We are turning our environment into an open sewer. We must build toilets and sanitation systems that work in harmony with ecosystems.
Weak sanitation has significant health costs and untreated sewage from cities is the single biggest source of water resource pollution in India. This indicates both the scale of the challenge ahead of the Indian cities and the huge costs incurred from not addressing them. As per census 2011, 53.1 per cent of India’s population had no access to toilet and 69.3 per cent of rural households and 18.4 per cent of urban households do not have access to latrine. India's sanitation crisis is an urgent priority as 53 per cent of Indian households had no toilet in 2011.
On October 2, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan) to achieve an Open Defecation Free (ODF) India by 2019 and aims to build about 100 million toilets across India. The objectives of the mission are to promote a clean India through several initiatives that have been divided into urban and rural work-streams.
The rural component called Swachh Bharat (Gramin), strives to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status through emphasis upon behavior change and flexible delivery mechanisms that take into account local cultures, practices, sensibilities and demands. It also seeks to address solid and liquid waste management. Swachh Bharat (Gramin) is administered by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
The urban component called Swachh Bharat (Urban) is focused on building individual toilets, community toilets and solid waste management. Swachh Bharat (Urban) is administered through the Ministry of Urban Development. This programme aims at (i) elimination of open defecation; (ii) eradication of manual scavenging; (iii) modern and scientific municipal solid waste management; (iv) to affect behavioral change regarding healthy sanitation practices; (v) generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health etc.
Discharge from insanitary latrines, sewage flowing in drains, effluent from septic tanks and rampant open defecation are polluting the environment and having adverse health impacts to all of us. Looking at the smart approach in city planning it is imperative for all urban settlements to provide nature friendly sanitation for all. Safe collection, transport and treatment of sewage are necessary. There is a need to check the open discharge of raw sewage into drains and river to protect rural and urban ecosystem.
(Dr Praharaj teaches at Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)