Fact Checker's random school survey casts serious doubts about the government's 100% toilet coverage claim
A random check carried out by Fact Checker has revealed that many schools in some of India’s backward districts still remain without toilets or lack facilities to be fully functional. Wherever present, the toilets did not fulfil the criteria set by Clean School Campaign of the Ministry of HRD. Setting unrealistic time bound targets of achieving 100% functional toilet coverage in schools seemed to have worked against the fundamental principle and goals of the scheme.
The curious case of going out in the open despite having toilets at home
A strong resistance to defecating in a closed room and the belief that going out is cleaner than healthier than using the toilet seems to come in the government’s way of achieving 100% toilet coverage across the country. Unless the importance of sanitation and good personal hygiene is realised, handout toilets will remain as mere showpieces; useless.
Shashi Tharoor voices opinion about the mismatch between the Swachh Bharat rhetoric and reality
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has made it clear that there is an obvious mismatch between the lofty promises made by the present government regarding the Swachh Bharat Mission and the work done on the field. The advertisement budget of the Mission remained larger than the sum set aside for achieving sanitation targets and a whole lot more needs to be done before the 2019 deadline.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation teams up with IIT-Bombay to install bio-toilets across the city
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has teamed up with IIT-Bombay to set up low-flush bio-toilets across the city, with special attention given to the urban slums. Costing less than a lakh Rupees to set up a six toilet-seat complex, these bio-toilets are expected to improve the sanitation conditions around the shanties. The first such toilet was inaugurated in Powai's Mahatma Phule Nagar slum.
NGT orders tanneries to be shifted away from the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh if pollution continues unabated
The National Green Tribunal has ordered the Kanpur Municipal Corporation and UP Pollution Control Board to shift the tanneries located along the Ganga if discharge of effluents into the river could not be checked. The Tribunal has also informed that action would be taken against officials who fail to check the discharge of pollutants. Effluents from tanneries top the list of polluting agents that continue to choke River Ganga.
Japanese Ministers keen on helping women in developing countries with improved toilet technologies
Going beyond its high-tech fixation, Japan is now keen on using high-level toilet technology to improve the lives of women in developing countries. Various ideas and designs were vetted at the World Assembly of Women held in Tokyo last month, with special focus on rural needs and issues.
A roundup of important sanitation related news between September 7 and 12, 2015
Lead image courtesy: Little News
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