Centre plans to impose 0.5% Swachh Bharat cess on all services from November 15, 2015

All services that come under the purview of Service Tax will have an additional 0.5% Swachh Bharat cess added to them from November 15, 2015. The revenue generated from such a move is expected to fund activities under the government’s flagship sanitation scheme – The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. A provision to this effect was included in this year’s financial budget to augment mission resources.

Delhi's sanitation workers threaten to turn the city into a garbage dump this Diwali if requests remain unmet

Hundreds of safai karamcharis across all three municipal corporations in Delhi threaten to abstain from work and turn the city into a mighty dump during Diwali festivities. Sanitation workers have been demanding better pay and working conditions while the Corporation has washed their hands off the issue citing acute financial crunch.

22 out of 43 sewage treatment plants, mostly in the out-lying areas of Bengaluru, flout KSPCB set standards

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board teams deputed to monitor sewage treatment plants at large apartments and commercial spaces found that 22 out of 43 STPs in Bengaluru flout KSPCB set standards. Most of the defaulters were found to be located in the out-lying areas of the city where a few complexes were letting out raw sewage into water bodies. This is the first time such an exercise is being carried out in the city.

Use of processed waste water to be made compulsory in power plants

The government plans to make it compulsory for power plants to use processed municipal waste water in their operations to generate electricity under the new power tariff policy. The plan is aimed at encouraging such institutions to use resources efficiently and cut down on their carbon footprint.

Mobile app to monitor school sanitation schemes in West Bengal

Soon, a mobile application will be launched to co-ordinate and monitor sanitation schemes in West Bengal schools. Information on whether the toilets are being used will be uploaded to a server on a real-time basis. The campaign spearheaded by the UNICEF was first launched in Andhra Pradesh. Initially the scheme is expected to be rolled out in Malda district with an approximate budget of Rs.20-22 lakh.

No toilet, no bride for Halba tribals in Chhattisgarh

The entire Halba tribal community across 52 Gram Panchayats in Chhattisgarh has vowed to not marry their daughters into houses with no toilets. This is seen as a positive step in the hard to achieve sanitation behaviour change domain.

This is a roundup of important sanitation related news published between November 1 and 7, 2015.

Lead image courtesy: The Financial Express