Centre For Science And Environment Questions Sustainability Of Open Defecation Free Success

New Delhi: The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has questioned the sustainability of the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and raised concerns over the maintenance of the nearly 100 million toilets constructed under the ambitious programme. The advocacy group asked how will these toilets be kept functional and how will the “tonnes of waste” generated by them be disposed of efficiently.

Also Read: Top UNICEF Official Praises Swacch Bharat Programme As ‘Game-Changer’

The think tank said that India has built 100 million toilets in about six lakh villages, and another 6.3 million in cities in the last four years. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that rural India and its villages are now open defecation-free (ODF).

CSE director general Sunita Narain said till five years ago, India was home to 60 per cent of the world’s people who defecated in the open. She said,

If the nation now achieves ODF status, it means a huge leap forward not only for it, but for the world as a whole. It will take the world a long way on its sustainable development goal of universal coverage to toilets and safe disposal of excreta.

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However, she said that the scale of this transition is so massive that it will mean new, bigger challenges. “Will the extraordinary success of the Swachh Bharat Mission stand the test of time,” she asked. She further asked,

How will the over 100 million toilets be maintained and kept functional? Will people continue to use them? Will the millions of tonnes of waste generated by these toilets be managed and disposed of efficiently, without polluting the environment? How will we make this success sustainable, make it last?

CSE researchers also pointed out that even if toilets have been built and are being used, the trend can reverse. A CSE statement said,

A case in point is Haryana which had declared itself ODF in 2017. A recent investigation…reveals that people are slipping back to the old habit of open defecation.

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Sumedh, a public health and sanitation expert who identifies himself with his first name, said the data used to measure the scheme’s success is based on a survey done in 2012. He claimed,

The ODF status declaration was done on the basis of a baseline survey conducted in 2012 by panchayats, rural housing and rural development department. The data is very archaic.

He said the construction of toilets does not include aspects like providing water and electricity to the toilet blocks, which may also prevent people from using it.

Dayanand Jadhav, executive president of Triratna Prerana, a Mumbai-based NGO working on community toilets, said the claim seems to have been made based on paper. He said the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan-Grameen has seen a considerable success but cities like Mumbai cannot still be declared as ODF.

At an event on Wednesday, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said,

I congratulate everyone on having achieved the dream of an open defection-free India (except 52 urban local bodies of West Bengal). This has been possible with the participation of the biggest stakeholders of the movement — the citizens of this country. We are committed to the prime minister’s vision of a SUP (single-use plastic)-free India.

Also Read: On Gandhi Jayanti, PM To Declare India Open Defecation-Free

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.