IF ONLY toilets could ensure safe sanitation. After constructing 110 million toilets in 60 months, India declared itself open-defecation free on October 2, 2019. The National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2019-20, a government-commissioned survey of the sanitation scheme, scheme, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), soon stated that 99.9 per cent households in rural India now practise safe disposal of excreta. Despite this civilisational leap forward, India's sanitation challenge remains far from over. It is another matter that some people are already slipping back into the habit of open defecation due to dysfunctional toilets or lack of water.
As per SBM dashboard, almost all of the 160 million households in rural India have toilets. Assuming that every household has five members and that an average human releases 128 g of faeces daily, as per the 2015 study in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, rural India generates 0.12 million tonnes of faecal matter a day. In the absence of safe disposal and treatment, such huge volume of waste could create a new sanitation nightmare-a situation similar to when India did not have toilets and exposure to contaminated faecal caused millions of unavoidable deaths.
This is the reason, SBM had laid emphasis on twin-pit toilets built with brick-lined honeycomb design. Such a toilet is like a self-cona a tained treatment plant, where the excreta gets decomposed and can be then safely reused as manure (see 'Mission accomplished but...', safe disposal and treatment, such huge volume of waste could create a new sanitation nightmare-a situation similar to when India did not have toilets and exposure to contaminated faecal caused millions of unavoidable deaths.
この記事は Down To Earth の March 16, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は Down To Earth の March 16, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.