By Somali K Chakrabarti
The importance of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in our lives cannot be stressed upon enough. We always try our level best to maintain sanitation and hygiene within our homes to provide our children with a healthy and clean environment. But, the lack of sanitation outside our homes affects us too.
Poor Sanitation is linked to Malnutrition
More than 50% of the population of India (around 620 million people) do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. India continues to be the country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation.
This makes it difficult to avoid microbial contamination caused by faecal matter seeping into ground water, resulting in diseases such as diarrhoea, weak immune systems, malnutrition, stunting and premature deaths in children. Studies suggest that poor sanitation in India might be a greater cause of malnutrition than the scarcity of food.
What we need to keep in mind is that the entire community pays the consequences of poor sanitation. Children across all income groups (not only from the economically weaker sections) are found to be affected by the contamination caused due to lack of clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities.
An article published in NY Times, in Sept 2014 states:
Stunting affects 65 million Indian children under the age of 5, including a third of children from the country’s richest families.
Water and Sanitation challenges
Urban and rural areas pose different challenges for sanitation. In less populated rural areas, sanitation products may not be available or households may not always prioritize sanitation over other expenditures.
In the densely-occupied urban areas, several pockets do not have space or expertise to properly dispose of waste, or well-coordinated systems and services for transportation and treatment of waste. This not only degrades the urban environment, and diminishes quality of life, but can also result in serious public health consequences.
Decentralization of Water and Waste Management
The problem is humongous for the Government to tackle alone. Hence, the Government has invited the participation of private sector to tap their talents, and resources to generate solutions to India’s water, sanitation, and hygiene challenges
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and TERI University in collaboration with in collaboration with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Coca-Cola Foundation, have undertaken a ‘Strengthening Water and Sanitation in Urban Settings‘ initiative to bring innovative solutions to improve water and sanitation services for India’s low-income urban populations.
Reaching out to 50,000 beneficiaries in low-income settlements, over 300 professionals through WASH governance studies, and 2,500 students through 20 municipal schools across India, the program aims to:
- Undertake study and analyse the risks due to improper sanitation in the slums of Kolkata and Chennai.
- Develop and implement strategies for reducing the WASH risks, and trigger behavioural changes,
- Engage faculty, students, and decision makers to help address the challenges related to sanitation and health.
Let us hope that the collaborative effort between the government and private entities will help in tackling the practical challenges of sanitation.
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This is a sponsored post.
References:
1. Sanitation: Facts, Figures, Resources, worldbank.org
2. Progress on drinking water and sanitation 2014 update, unicef.org
Poor sanitation is the source of many problems both in rural and urban areas. It eventually affects the hygiene, especially of the children. Recently, in 2015, India has been declared as a Polio free country but I think the Government should be equally concerned about providing pure water, sanitation and hygiene. Not an easy job in such a vastly populated country and where many people are still under the poverty level.
In this scenario, such initiatives from private entities are more than welcome.
An informative and well-narrated post, Somali…. 🙂
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Thank you for adding on the Polio example Maniparna. Yes, it is a challenge in a vastly and densely populated country as India. Structured efforts are needed to understand the problems, the behavioural pattern and the impact. So private entities coming along with govt and working towards a solution is a welcome step.
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Great initiative and you have captured the essence beautifully, Somali….
This is something much needed…
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Thank you Archana. Firm resolve on part of Govt is needed to bring about any improvements and inviting private participation looks like a step in the right direction.
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Mam..congrats..the content is worth publishing as a case study in a reputed management journal
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Thank you for your kind words Indranil.
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The access to pure drinking water and sanitation facilities in rural as well as urban areas for large numbers of people in our county is yet to be achieved .Besides the mind set of the people to the aspect of hygiene is still not shaped properly for a healthy environment .These problems can not be solved by the Government alone .It needs involvement of private agencies , non-government organisations and the people themselves. It is very heartening to note that the Coca Cola Foundation has undertaken the WASH initiative to address the problem in a selected manner .
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Thank you for raising this very important point about the mindset. Along with provision of sanitation facilities, the habits also need to change to a great extent to bring about sustainable improvements.
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I just wrote about them (post coming up soon) and it is a much-needed initiative from either government and/or big corporates.
Moreover, these are basic necessities every country needs to have in place!
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Thanks Alok. True this is a much needed initiative considering the grave impacts the lack of good water and sanitation can have.
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Commendable initiative. Good hygiene through education of both and children is important and hope it reaches the masses.
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Yes Vishal, hope it serves the purpose and helps in tackling the core issues.
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This is a great initiative. Access to safe drinking water, and sanitation are core issues which need to be adressed.
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Great Initiative. The biggest challenge for mankind today is access to safe drinking water and sanitation in both rural and urban areas.
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You have so well explained the urge for cleanliness Somali. Sanitation is a critical issue and thanks a lot for bringing this beneficial program under our notice 🙂
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Right Topic of discussion of the present times, Somali.. A valuable Post to educate many! Thanks for sharing..
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Thank you Sir. The need for water, sanitation and hygiene can’t be reiterated enough.
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A great write, Somali!
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Thank you Amitji
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I like the initiative Somali. From the time Total sanitation campaign has been on the vogue, the addition of Swach Bharat mission and now the CSR activities can go a long way in making INdia a better place.
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Agreed Vinay. CSR being mandatory now, it’s good that such initiative will be highlighted and there will be the much needed awareness around these. Hope the implementation is as good as the communication.
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Very elaborate and well detailed post! Great write up Somali.
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Thanks Indrani
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Great initiative by Coca and you have captured the essence beautifully, Somali Ji . This is a sponsored post but it is meaningful !!
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Thank you Yogiji. I think creating awareness helps to understand what is being done to tackle the core issues that impact us,
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Gandhiji had quoted, “Sanitation is more important than political independence.” But it’s still ignored sector after 68 years of political independence!!! May be more private players like Coca-cola will serve the cause.
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Thanks Mukund. It will be good to see more private players taking up such issues with social impact.
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Great initiative
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Hope it’s a success
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Very detailed post and informative too…
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Thanks Anita.
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Oh yes, we do need Corporate participation in these social initiatives. Awareness and action can help us provide these basics to our population. I have written about this cause as well.
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Thanks Rachna. Yes awareness coupled with appropriate action is needed to improve the situation.
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Have read your post. Good that we all are joining hands to create the awareness.
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REALLY INFORMATIVE !!!
I WILL TRY TO SHARE FACTS ABOUT THIS….
I HAVE INVITED U FOR QUOTE CHALLENGE,,HAVE A LOOK
https://dreamlittlebig.wordpress.com/2015/08/22/day-2-quote-challenge/
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Thanks Neha. I had missed this comment. Will have a look.
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🙂
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[…] a brand is engaging with a community for its CSR activity. Posts on such initiatives can be seen here and […]
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That’s great.
Do hope we have more such CSR activities and solve all our country’s & world’s problems soon.
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Thanks Anita. 🙂
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