Swachh Bharat funds promised by the World Bank yet to be released 

The World Bank is yet to release funds promised for the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission following the lack of substantive results on the ground. The World Bank had promised a loan amount of a billion dollars to help rid the country of open defecation. The money was to be distributed in tranches over the next five years. India missed the first deadline set by the agency and is expected to fall short of the 2017 deadline as well, delaying the disbursement of funds. An independent verification study has revealed that India has been struggling to reduce open defecation and sustain positive results in rural areas.

City administrations manipulate data recorded through Swachhta app

Officials monitoring the Swachh Bharat Mission have observed discrepancies in complaints lodged using the Swachhta app in several cities across the country. A total of 21 city administrations across the country have been found to fudge data recorded through the mobile app such as multiple downloads and complaint registration from the same mobile number. While most irregularities were from cities in Gujarat, the Navi Mumbai municipal corporation, along with the Surat and Ahmedabad corporations topped the list of cheaters. Other cities that got reprimanded include Pune, Mysuru, Varanasi, Rajkot, and Ranchi. 

Brihanmumbai municipal corporation launches Mumbai toilet locator mobile app

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a mobile toilet locator app to help users identify the nearest public convenience facility. Precise locations of close to 800 pay and use public toilets within city limits have been mapped. Though the app has received its share of positive response, citizens feel that the administration should focus more on keeping public latrines clean instead of focusing on providing location details of toilets which can barely be used. Google launched a toilet locator app in Delhi NCR and Madhya Pradesh a week before BMC launched its new mobile application.

Slum cluster in South Delhi's Kalkaji locality gets sanitation complex

The Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) Basti Bhoomiheen Camp in South Delhi’s Kalkaji locality was the latest to be equipped with community toilets in a bid to reduce open defecation in the national capital. Nine hundred and forty five community latrines were inaugurated by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal along with lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal. The government is working towards establishing public convenience facilities in all JJ clusters across Delhi as lack of toilets was found to be among the top complaints of people living in these slum clusters. Over 7,000 new community toilets have been inaugurated since the AAP government took charge in February 2015.

Post-Vardah, tonnes of decaying waste dumped in Chennai's outskirts

Tonnes of decaying waste continue to be dumped in two of Chennai’s primary landfills in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi to the north and south of the city. Fire hazard tops the list of concerns for local residents as the fire department had already reported the break out of close to 153 fires in makeshift dump yards across the city over the last month.

This is a roundup of important sanitation related news published between January 7 and 13, 2017.

Lead image courtesy: Hindustan Times