NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON SUSTAINABLE SANITATION
19TH-20TH MAY, 2008, NEW DELHI
SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS
Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission
Department of Drinking Water Supply
Ministry of Rural Development
Government of India
CONTENTS
PART – I SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS
1. Address by Hon’ble Minister for Rural Development
2. Summary of the Proceedings
PART II RECOMMENDATIONS OF WORKSHOP
PART III ANNEXURE : 1. PRESENTATION SCHEDULE
2. LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
PART I SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS
Address by Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Hon’ble Minister, Rural Development
I am very happy to be present at the National Workshop on Sustainable Sanitation. The Secretary Department of Drinking Water Supply, Smt Santha Sheela Nair has done commendable work in organizing this Workshop on sustainable sanitation as a celebration of 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation declared by united Nations General Assembly where ‘Karmayogis’ (Activists), academicians, intellectuals, experts, researchers, Government officials have come together to deliberate on this important issue.
Though India has made significant progress in terms of the GDP growth and is at the forefront of developing countries in all areas of economic development half of its people largely residing in rural areas still defecate in the open and live in unhealthy and unclean Environment. The main reason for this is due to lack of awareness amongst people regarding maintaining clean and healthy environment and personal health and hygiene.
People particularly in rural areas pollute rivers and water bodies by taking bath washing clothes and utensils throwing garbage and even defecating and urinating near water sources. This leads to not only pollution of rivers but also threatens the safety of ground water which often is the only source of drinking water in rural areas. This leads to many life threatening and preventable water and sanitation related diseases like Polio, Malaria, and Diarrhoea which most affect women and children. The improper disposal of waste water, open drains, polluted water bodies , stagnation of water around handpumps also ruins the conditions of roads and becomes a breeding ground for all kinds of disease producing viruses.
Therefore, along with provision of sanitary latrines to prevent open defecation time has come to address the problems of Solid and liquid Waste Management in villages to prevent environmental pollution and diseases.
The Government of India through its flagship programme of Total Sanitation Campaign(TSC) has been able to enhance the sanitation coverage in rural areas from a mere 1% in 1981to over 54% in the current financial year. Through this programme in the year 2007-08 alone, more than 1.2 Crore toilets have been constructed. The Government of India is committed to achieve cent percent sanitation coverage in all rural households by 2012 much before the Millennium Development Goal Target set by United Nations General Assembly of reducing by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by year 2015. Besides the Government has also set a target of covering all Government Schools and Angawadis with sanitation facilities by next financial year itself. Some of the states like Sikkim and Tripura have already achieved centpercent coverage.
Keeping in view the critical importance of Solid and Liquid Waste Management the Government of India has also revised its guidelines and included Solid and Liquid wastes management in its guidelines and Panchayats may utilize 15% of its funds for this purpose. He stated that adequate financial resources have been allocated for the Total Sanitation Campaign programmes of the Ministry and the Secretary Department of Drinking Water Supply would be a member of the Empowered Committee in the Ministry of Finance to leverage adequate finances for the programme. Funds have also allocated under the 12th Finance Commission may be utilized by States for enhancing sanitation coverage and invest in Solid and liquid Wastes Management in their areas. The Nirmal Gram Puruskar (Clean Village Award) incentive schemes for PRIs under TSC have a new impetus to the TSC and he exhorted all Panchayats to come forward to make their villages, blocks and Districts to win this award.
Along with addressing the problems of sanitation he stressed the importance of taking adequate measure of ensuring the availability, Sustainability and Quality of drinking water also. Water and sanitation are linked as majority of the people in rural areas suffer from water and vector borne diseases like diarrhea, gastro-enteritis, malaria etc. The availability of adequate and safe drinking water is begin ensured through two flagship pogrammes of the Department of Drinking Water Supply that of Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme(ARWSP) and of National Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance(NDWQMSP). Water laboratories for testing of water sources must be set up every District, Block and villages to detect certain impurities in water and training may be provided to villagers, Asha workers, health workers in this regard. This would prevent many water borne illnesses.
He also stressed on the need of artificial recharge of ground water and surface water harvesting along with awareness generation amongst the community so that no all habitations in rural areas are covered with adequate and safe drinking water and there are no slipped back villages either in terms of quantity or quality of drinking water. He said that small-scale low cost environmentally sustainable water shed management projects like roof top rain water harvesting should be taken up in villages particularly in schools to ensure sustainability of water sources. made compulsory in schools.
The Minister stated that policy and adequate funds are now available. It is now important to is to make all the Government agencies, PRIs at State, District, Block and Panchayat level and all the rural community about the importance of use of sanitary latrines and Solid and liquid waste management. Awareness and participation of community through advertisements and door to door campaign is also very important for the programme. The Asha/ICDS Workers and village level motivators may be used for awareness generation and advocacy for construction and use of toilets and Solid and liquid waste Management. He said that now the questions asked in I.A S. exam must be on the Nirmal Gram Puruskar!
The Hon’ble Minister stressed the fact that along with construction of toilets sustainability of these systems was also crucial and there is a need for developing low- cost and environmentally sustainable, viable region specific sanitation technologies and systems. He stressed that on one hand the construction of two pit latrine which uses less water must be made compulsory in all rural areas on the other hand new and innovative technologies like ecosanitation, use of feacal matter for Biogas etc must be developed . The workshop would provide such a forum for all researchers and practitioners to disseminate information to the implementing agencies and in turn to the village communities on these new and innovative technologies. He hoped the workshop would combine and upgrade the old and traditional sanitation systems and technologies being used by the people new and innovative modern technologies without comprising on health and hygiene aspects. Training of people in villages on these new technologies along with easy accessibility and availability of raw material and marketing facilities are crucial for sustainability of these systems. This also can lead to employment generation in village and funds can be accessed through the Gramin Rozgar Yojana (Employment Guarantee Scheme. )
The Hon’ble minister invited all participants to the South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN ) begin organized by the Department in November, 2008 to give further impetus to sustainable sanitation initiatives the country and worldwide.
Quoting the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi that “Sanitation is more important than political independence” the Hon’ble Minister welcomed all the all the invited experts, delegates and participants to use this opportunity of the workshop to work towards fulfilling “Gandhiji’s dream of Sanitation for All” by making Sustainable Sanitation a mass movement in India.
Concluding his inaugural address, Hon’ble Minister thanked all invited exerts and delegates and participants for being part of the Swachayatha Abhiyan (Sanitation movement and hoped that the workshop would now transform all the Nirmal Grams(Clean Villages) to a Nirmal and Swasthaya India Hindustan!.(Clean and Healthy India)
Gram Swachahta Zindabad.! Gram Swashtya Zindabad.! Gram Vikas! Zindabad!.
(Victory to Clean Villages! Victory Healthy Villages!, Victory to Developed Villages! )
SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS OF THE WORKSHOP
Background
The United Nations has declared 2008 as the “International Year of Sanitation” with the aim of accelerating the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by year 2015. The Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development has committed towards achieving this goal by provision of centpercent sustainable sanitation facilities in all rural areas through its flagship programme of Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) by 2012 itself.
As part of the various initiatives under the International year of sanitation, the Department of Drinking Water Supply organized a National Workshop on sustainable sanitation on 19th, 20th May, 2008 at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The workshop was organized in partnership with NGOs working in the field of Sustainable Sanitation –Viz Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Delhi and Ecosan Services Foundation, Pune a member of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SusSaA)
The overall goal of the Workshop was to achieve the Millennium Development Goal on Sanitation in India with systems and technologies that that address all aspects of sustainability. The workshop highlighted the success of the Flagship programme of Total Sanitation Campaign and discussed strategies for upgrading upsacling and the achievements of TSC by appropriate technology interventions focusing on a range of innovative and sustainable approaches to sanitation with special focus on promotion of reuse oriented sanitation models. The workshop made clear that combining these innovative elements has great demand for hygienically safe, socially acceptable, environmentally sound and economically affordable sanitation solutions.
The workshop provided a platform for sharing of knowledge, skills and best practices on various sustainable sanitation strategies, programme and technological options available in India and worldwide by all Stakeholders including representatives from Central and State Government implementing Water and Sanitation Programmes, officials from other ministries of rural water and sanitation from various states UN and Bi-lateral Donar Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, Panchayati Raj institutions, scientists, research institutions and experts in the field of sustainable sanitation, Financial Institutions, women self help groups, legal bodies, designers, town planners, sanitary manufacturing industries to evolve a roadmap for sustainable sanitation in the country.
An exhibition to showcase innovative technological models of sustainable sanitation was also organized as part of the workshop.
1. Address by Smt. Santha Sheela Nair , Secretary (DWS)
Ms. Santha Sheela Nair, Secretary (DWS), in her opening remarks stated that though the benefits of investments in the sanitation sector in rural India through the Total Sanitation Campaign(TSC) and Nirmal Gram Purusar are many but the most endurable will be the long term impact it will have on the health profiles and quality of life of our rural population. She said that the time has come to move onward and to garner the benefits to assess the sustainability of these sanitation systems and use the present momentum and to achieve important milestones in a “Sanitation Plus Drive” to Holistic Waste Management in every village focusing on treating every waste as a resource. A need has come to promote sustainable sanitation technologies that promote less use of water, treat and recycle the waste streams, keeping in view the geographical variations of water scarce, waterlogged , flood prone areas, hilly and rocky regions where often traditional sanitation systems fail. There are many case studies available in India and worldwide in developing and implementing these innovative reuse oriented sustainable systems and approaches which need to be highlighted and replicated wherever possible. Therefore as part of the celebration of the International Year of Sanitation the Department of Drinking water Supply is organizing a National Workshop on Sustainable sanitation to address the issue of sustainability in Sanitation programmes, policy and implementation in consultation with experts in the sector, reputed NGOs, State Governments and other central Government Departments.
She highlighted the broad focus of the workshop would be:
· Upgrading of the traditional sanitation practices by appropriate technology interventions and making it viable models for scaling up focusing on reuse oriented sanitation approaches.
· To assess the resources, identify the needs, address sector specific interventions to meet the infrastructure and human resource requirement, hygiene education, community mobilization and behavior change programmes
· Develop sanitation models for institutions Viz- tribal girls hostel, school, tourist locations, highway restaurants, railways, etc.
· Sustainable sanitation in large scale models especially in urbanizing rural areas, periurban and urban areas.
· Convergence of sustainable sanitation policies and schemes with other Ministries and agencies for optimal utilization of resources and increasing coverage.
· Sharing of Case studies and best practices on innovative sustainable models by various Stakeholders- Viz Panchayati Raj Institutions., Government Agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, Self help groups, research institutions.
Ms. Nair hoped that the workshop would bring together best practices, innovative technological options and models on sustainable sanitation available in India and abroad to evolve a road map for Sustainable Sanitation for all.
2. Address by Dr. Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission
Dr. Kirit Parikh, Member, Planning Commission highlighted that that the problems related to water and sanitation for rural and urban areas are different and the strategies and technologies to be development and implemented for both these sectors have to be accordingly developed notwithstanding the interconnections between the two sectors. . Technology is an extremely critical element of the solutions but they may also be the cause of creating new problems. For eg. the technology of “flush toilet” is the biggest culprit in today’s world, We need to develop technologies which use less or no water at all for disposal of waste so that we can minimize the cost of large sewage treatment plants for treatment of waste water. He also highlighted that it is important technologies should be developed to make the toilet smell free, clean and easy to maintain.