Residents were in for a huge shock last week when they witnessed thousands of fish turning up dead in Bengaluru’s Ulsoor Lake. Raw sewage and refuse from slaughterhouses close by have been let into the lake untreated. This has led to the explosive growth of water hyacinth in the lake, reducing the overall dissolved oxygen content of the water leading to this large-scale fishkill.

 

The government has managed to collect Rs 369.74 crore for the Swachh Bharat Kosh. Donations to the tune of Rs 365 crore have been received from corporates and Rs 5.95 lakh has been recieved from individuals. The Swachh Bharat Kosh was established in 2014 to attract Corporate Social Responsibility funds from and individual contributions from philanthropists to help achieve the objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

 

A recent report compiled by strategic philanthropy foundation Dasra has revealed that 63 million out of India's 120 million adolescent girls lack access to toilets. Close to 50% of adolescent girls both in rural and urban India lack access to adequate sanitation facilities. Due to their inability to manage their menstrual health properly, many of them tend to miss school after reaching puberty. The report further states that the situation will remain more or less the same unless school toilets are maintained properly.

 

Mumbai’s civic body has decided to construct 3,500 community toilet seats in 22 wards across the city in a bid to make it open defecation free. 250 locations have been finalised so far in 20 wards with Kurla bagging most of the latrines. With Mumbai securing the 10th position in the recently concluded Swachh Bharat survey, the Corporation is going all out to improve th

 

Sitting councillors in Mumbai now have to submit a certificate of owning and using a toilet at home, or regularly using a community latrine in order to be safe from disqualification. The state government has amended the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, the Maharashtra Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships (Fourth Amendment) Act, 2015 to make cities open defecation free as part of their Swachh Maharashtra commitments.