Water and Sanitation in India
Clean water is a basic physical need, and secure access to clean water is essential for human survival. Water security is defined by the United Nations University’s Institute for Water, Environment, and Health as “…the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socioeconomic development, for ensuring protection against water-borne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability” (United Nations Water, 2013, 1). Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calls on all countries to “ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” (UN, 2016) Targets to achieve by 2030, to name a few, include secure access to safe and affordable drinking water for all, access to sanitation and hygiene and ending open defecation, and improving water quality through effective waste management (UN, 2016). India has a population of 1.3 billion, and an estimated 270 million, or one in five people living in India fall below the International Poverty Line, living on less than $1.90 per day (World Bank, 2016). India remains a country with high-priority needs for improvements in sanitation and access to clean water. Poverty is a significant risk factor for exposure to unsafe water and sanitation (Anuradha, Dutta, Raja, Lawrence, Timsi & Sivaprakasam, 2017). Overwhelmingly, the burden of disease associated with poor hygiene, sanitation, and water (HSW) is carried by the poor and disadvantaged in the developing world, and is a major contributor to the cycle of poverty (Bartram & Cairncross, 2010). The health implications of poor sanitation and a lack of access to clean water include acute and chronic diarrhoea, and these can limit productivity and personal hygiene (Hunter, MacDonald, & Carter, 2010). The health burden associated with a lack of clean water and access to sanitation, coupled with India’s projected population growth, and the threat of climate change to water security, pose unique challenges and demands for making improvements to sanitation infrastructure and access to clean water in India. Barriers to adequate water sanitation and access to clean water are also related to a host of environmental and social factors. In many areas in India, especially in urban slums, there are an insufficient number of public toilets (Anuradha et al., 2017; Sharma, 2018). Toilets that are available are often poorly maintained, or are located in dangerous or inaccessible environments, such as next to busy roadways (Anuradha et al., 2017; Sharma, 2018). The resulting implication of insufficient, poorly maintained, and often inaccessible public toilets is that people resort to open air defecation. Additional barriers relate to general waste management infrastructure – in many areas of India, efforts to manage garbage and solid waste disposal are poorly managed, or non-existent (Anuradha et al., 2017; Sharma, 2018). Beyond physical barriers, social and behavioural factors have made addressing this issue difficult. There is a persistent lack of awareness about the diseases transmitted through open air defecation (Anuradha et al., 2017). Additionally, divisions in terms of caste and gender, as well as local politics have all been found to influence individual and community-level demands for sanitation improvements, which have hindered the political pressure needed to enact change (Partners in Population and Development, 2013; Routray, Torondel, Jenkins, Clasin, & Schmidt, 2017). While the root causes of this problem are complex, there are also a host of actionable and cost-effective solutions. At the national level, India has begun to take action to improve sanitation and water safety. On October 2, 2014, an initiative called the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched, with the goal of making India open defecation free, garbage free, and improving solid waste management practices by October 2, 2019 (PMINDIA, n.d.); Sharma, 2018). However, this initiative has not adequately addressed the problem. There remain persistent challenges regarding the accessibility and upkeep of public washroom facilities, as well as a host of social and behavioural barriers, which result in the continued practice of open air defecation (Sharma, 2018). Additional challenges persist regarding the collection and proper disposal of garbage, which is a constant threat to water security (Sharma, 2018). At the international level, there has been a lack of policy action on improving access to drinking water and sanitation, despite hygiene, sanitation, and water being development priorities (Bartram & Cairncross, 2010). A persistent, overarching challenge to the development of effective interventions to improve hygiene, sanitation, and water is the need for collaboration and solutions across multiple sectors including infrastructure, education, urban planning, but clarity regarding who will bear the costs of implementation and maintenance is still lacking (PPD, 2013). Sustainable economic growth relies on access to clean water and sanitation for all. Poor hygiene, sanitation, and access to clean water disproportionately impact the health of the most vulnerable, a burden which is largely preventable through the implementation and scale-up of proven, cost-effective solutions (Bartram & Cairncross, 2010). There is a need for sustainable solutions at the sub-national, national and global levels, to address the economic, infrastructural, and social barriers to achieving clean water and sanitation for all. Water is perhaps the most basic need and a human right. Access to clean and affordable water and sanitation are inextricably tied to the development of sustainable communities. It is also foundational to a country’s ability to contribute to other development goals. .
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- Duration: 6 Months
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