Sustainable sanitation in India: Need of the hour
For correspondence: Ms. Manjari Manisha, CSIR National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, Dr. KS Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110 012, India. E mail: manjarimanisha@ gmail.com Dear Sir, The pathetic state of sanitation index in India has put the country behind Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. According to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Performance Index 2015 developed by the Water Institute at the University of North Carolina, India was a bottom performer and was ranked 93, while Pakistan performed exceptionally well by occupying the fifth place on the index.[1] There is a strong need to apply sustainable framework and strengthening capacity building in technological, social, as well as the delivery and monitoring mechanism of sanitation programs in our country. India's Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has asserted to construct 111 million toilets as a part of "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" to end open defecation by October 2019. Constructing a toilet is not going to solve the sanitation crisis; there are several other challenges that can turn the toilet into a bin.[2] The conventional design of toilets in India considers human excreta and urine as a waste and based on the premise that it should be disposed off, but by applying innovative technologies, proper recycling, and waste management it can turn as a valuable resource. Appropriate and comprehensive demographics, social analysis, and economic analysis of the population should determine the design of sanitation framework, that should be affordable, accessible, and safe and it should not be common for all. Several studies such as "Reinventing the toilet" a research program run by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Department of Biotechnology, discusses to bring safe, affordable, and sustainable toilets to the worldwide 2.5 billion people who lack access.[3] Sustainability should be a guiding force behind implementation of sanitation programs and policies by the government. A sustainable framework of sanitation must be economically viable, socially acceptable, easily maintainable, and technologically appropriate with a range of technology choices and should be environmentally friendly.[4,5]
Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine