Trust the Government to come up with ill-conceived schemes. The Union Urban Development Ministry has chalked out a Rs 15,000-crore scheme for purchase of suction and suction-cum-jetting machines for cleaning sewers and septic tanks for all 5,161 towns across the country.
However, the scheme, which will be dovetailed with the Rs 66,000-crore JNNURM, has not outlined any plan for dumping/managing the pumped-out sewage. Instead, it has left it to the civic bodies to do the needful. This is despite the fact that transportation is one of the most important components of septage management.
According to Census 2011, only 32.7 per cent of urban households are connected to a piped sewer system, whereas 38.2 per cent dispose of their wastes into septic tanks and about 7 per cent into pit latrines.
The idea to clean up the septic tanks and sewers with machines follows an observation by the Congress president Sonia Gandhi-led NAC that the existing definition of manual scavenging according to the Act of 1993 does not cover manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers.
“It is essential that such cleaning operations be included in the definition of manual scavenging since they involve similar issues of dignity as well as health-related risks,” the NAC had noted while suggesting measures to get rid of manual cleaning.
The Scheme for Mechanical Aid for Cleaning of Sewers & Septic Tanks (SMACSS) is proposed to be implemented under the 12th Five Year Plan to facilitate funding for procurement of suction machines for cleaning of septic tanks and suction-cum-jetting machines for cleaning of sewers in all cities/towns in the country.
However, not enough groundwork has been done to assess the magnitude of the manual scavenging problem. “The scheme is not clear on where the pumped-out sewage will be disposed. Also, there is no word on how it should be utilised,” added a senior official. For instance, he said, the sludge can be used for producing kitchen gas.
In the absence of any such long-term plan, the scheme will lead nowhere, while huge money will go down the drain just on purchasing the machines, the official pointed out. “Just purchasing expensive machines will not solve the problem. There is a need for evolving a standard method of collection, handling and transportation of septage,” he said.