Wash Solutions for an Inclusive Urban India

TARGET GROUP: URBAN PEOPLE

OBJECTIVES

·        To improve the performance of the urban WASH sector in the country through agglomeration, incubation, and acceleration of innovations to address WASH issues.

SUMMARY

While generally considered a symbol of progress, rapid and uncontrolled urbanization can lead to major socio-economic problems, a phenomenon widespread across several Indian cities today. With nearly 30% of her population living in urban agglomerations/towns, India is currently facing a serious crisis in terms of urban growth. Among numerous other socioeconomic problems, the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are leading to several health challenges for the urban Indian slums. Water, especially safe drinking water, is a scarce ‘commodity’ for the urban poor. Surveys of groundwater quality in many cities reveal that a number of waterborne diseases are a result of pathogenic contamination, generally caused by sewage mixing with drinking water. Ill maintained infrastructure, old pipelines and poor drainage systems are the key reasons for this kind of contamination. Consuming such water leads to epidemics and outbreaks of diseases like jaundice, cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea etc. As much as 60% of water and vector-borne (malaria, dengue etc.) diseases in urban areas are reported from slum clusters. Given that the majority of slum colonies in India are unauthorized, no one in the administration owns the responsibility or the accountability for its cleanliness (or lack of it) or providing other amenities including water supply.         

REFERENCE

https://smartnet.niua.org/content/1c9ffb77-25d9-49ef-8a18-472fa2e33ef0