November 19 is world toilet day, this year it is celebrated with a theme Handle wastewater better.
What is the status of waste water management in India?
India has made progress in toilet construction under the Swachh Bharat Mission, by achieving 71.54 per cent toilet coverage from 38.70 per cent in 2014.
But half of India’s population still defecates in the open.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, some 61,948 million litres per day was generated and only 30 per cent of India’s wastewater is recycled.
In India today, all wastewater goes into lakes, rivers and ponds.
In Delhi, for instance, 90 per cent of urban households have sewage systems whose wastewater, gets dumped directly into the Yamuna.
Thousands of crores of rupees is being spent to clean river and purify water at the same time list of dying rivers is growing.
What are the areas India need to concentrate?
Behaviour change communication should go hand in hand with toilet construction and toilet adoption, to make India open defecation free.
It would be useful to independently assess as to how many of the new toilets have water and are cleaned regularly.
There is clearly a need to step up the funds allocated under the Swachh Bharat Mission for managing and treating wastewater.
Many western countries use recycled sewage for cooling systems for thermal power plants, India can consider this.
Efforts should also be taken to rope in Corporates to play an active role in wastewater management.
Social initiatives with a strong local presence and knowledge of local communities can help develop solutions that address the specific sanitation needs of a community.
