ACCESS TO SANITATION &

CLEAN ENVIRONMENT
(A COMMUNIST)

Submitted by Shantanu Sharma

4th Semester
2016092

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 GLOBAL SCENARIO

Environmental sanitation envisages promotion of health of the community by providing clean

environment and breaking the cycle of disease. It depends on various factors that include hygiene
status of the people, types of resources available, innovative and appropriate technologies according
to the requirement of the community, socioeconomic development of the country, cultural factors
related to environmental sanitation, political commitment, capacity building of the concerned
sectors, social factors including behavioral pattern of the community, legislative measures adopted,
and others. India is still lagging far behind many countries in the field of environmental sanitation.
[1] The unsanitary conditions are appalling in India and need a great sanitary awakening similar to
what took place in London in the mid-19th century.[2] Improvement in sanitation requires newer
strategies and targeted interventions with follow-up evaluation.[3] The need of the hour is to
identify the existing system of environmental sanitation with respect to its structure and functioning
and to prioritize the control strategies according to the need of the country. These priorities are
particularly important because of issue of water constraints, environment-related health problems,
rapid population growth, inequitable distribution of water resources, issues related to administrative
problems, urbanization and industrialization, migration of population, and rapid economic growth.

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The United Nations estimates that there are 2.5 billion people who still do not use an improved
sanitation facility and a little over 1 billion practising open defecation.

In 2011, almost two thirds (64%) of the world, relied on improved sanitation facilities. Since 1990,
almost 1.9 billion people have gained access to an improved sanitation facility. The greatest
progress has been made in Eastern Asia, where sanitation coverage has increased from 27% in 1990
to 67% in 2011. This amounts to more than 626 million people gaining access to improved
sanitation facilities over a 21-year period. However, current trends show sub-Saharan Africa and
Southern Asia still struggle with low sanitation coverage. In sub-Saharan Africa, 44 per cent of the
population uses either shared or unimproved facilities, and an estimated 26 per cent practices open
defecation while in Southern Asia, the proportion of the population using shared or unimproved
facilities has declined to 18 per cent but open defecation remains the highest of any region (39 per
cent).

Open defecation rates declined globally from 24% in 1990 to 15% in 2011. In absolute numbers,
this signifies a drop of 244 million people to 1.04 billion in 2011. The decline in the population
practising open defecation has differed from region to region. Eastern Asia, South-eastern Asia and
the Latin America and Caribbean regions have seen a steady decline since earliest measurements
describing conditions in 1990. In Southern Asia, the population practising open defecation peaked
around 1995, after which it declined. Only in sub-Saharan Africa is the number of people defecating
in the open still increasing.

The state of sanitation remains a powerful indicator of the state of human development in any
community. Access to sanitation bestows benefits at many levels. Cross-country studies show that
the method of disposing of excreta is one of the strongest determinants of child survival: the
transition from unimproved to improved sanitation reduces overall child mortality by about a third.
Improved sanitation also brings advantages for public health, livelihoods and dignity-advantages
that extend beyond households to entire communities.

The Millennium Development Goal 7 (MDG7) Target 10 is to halve by 2015 the proportion of
people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. The world remains off
track to meet the MDG sanitation target of 75% and if current trends continue, is set to miss the
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target by more than half a billion people. Unless the pace of change in the sanitation sector can be
accelerated, the MDG target may not be reached until 2026.

Unless the pace of change in the sanitation sector can be accelerated, the MDG target may not be
reached until 2026.

End Open Defecation Campaign This campaign, launched by UN Deputy Secretary General Jan
Eliasson on 28 May 2014, aims to help end the practice of open defecation and improve access to
toilets and latrines for the 2.5 billion people without basic level sanitation. The campaign, which
will run to the end of 2015, aims to break the silence - the silence on talking about open defecation
and the silence on the deaths and diseases, particularly among children, that have occurred a result
of open defecation practices and lack of decent toilets or latrines.

World Toilet Day

This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw attention to the
global sanitation challenge. Celebrated on 19 November since 2001, the day has been recognized in
2013 by the United Nations General Assembly.
>> UN General Assembly Resolution proclaiming World Toilet Day
Sustainable sanitation: The Five-Year-Drive to 2015
The Sanitation Drive to 2015 is an advocacy campaign working to meet the Millennium
Development Goal sanitation target and end open defecation. The campaign supports and inspires
people from around the world to take action towards achieving sanitation and hygiene for all by
targeting the poorest and most vulnerable people.
UN Deputy Secretary-General's Call to Action on Sanitation
Recognising that greater progress on sanitation is essential for fighting poverty and for achieving all
the Millennium Development Goals, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has initiated, on
behalf of UN Secretary-General, a renewed effort to drive progress on sanitation and water goals
towards the 2015 target date and beyond.
2008: International Year of Sanitation
2008 was declared International Year of Sanitation. It helped to put sanitation in the spotlight and
led to the launch of several initiatives to more vigorously address the current sanitation crisis.
UN-Water Thematic Priority Area on Water Supply and Basic Sanitation

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The Thematic Priority Area on Water Supply and Basic Sanitation was created to support the efforts
made in achieving the goal of providing safe water and sanitation for all. It intends to foster
collaboration between UN agencies, provide value added services to the UN and its Member States,
support initiatives that facilitate achievement of the relevant development goals, raise awareness
and support UN global advocacy on water supply and basic sanitation, and coordinate with non-
UN-Water initiatives related to water supply and basic sanitation.

Indian Scenario

As per estimates, inadequate

sanitation cost India almost $54
billion or 6.4% of the country's
GDP in 2006. Over 70% of this
economic impact or about $38.5
billion was health-related, with
diarrhea followed by acute lower
respiratory infections accounting
for 12% of the health-related
impacts. Evidence suggests that
all water and sanitation
improvements are cost-beneficial
in all developing world
subregions.

Sectoral demands for water are

growing rapidly in India owing
mainly to urbanization and it is
estimated that by 2025, more than
50% of the country's population
will live in cities and towns.
Population increase, rising
incomes, and industrial growth are also responsible for this dramatic shift. National Urban
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Sanitation Policy 2008 was the recent development in order to rapidly promote sanitation in urban
areas of the country. India's Ministry of Urban Development commissioned the survey as part of its
National Urban Sanitation Policy in November 2008. In rural areas, local government institutions in
charge of operating and maintaining the infrastructure are seen as weak and lack the financial
resources to carry out their functions. In addition, no major city in India is known to have a
continuous water supply and an estimated 72% of Indians still lack access to improved sanitation
facilities.Percent of urban population without proper sanitation in India is 63%. The 11th five year
plan envisages 100% coverage of urban water, urban sewerage, and rural sanitation by 2012.
Although investment in water supply and sanitation is likely to see a jump of 221% in the 11th plan
over the 10th plan, the targets do not take into account both the quality of water being provided, or
the sustainability of systems being put in place. Increasing emphasis on use of information
technology applications in urban governance and management to ensure quick access to
information, planning, and decision support systems are the primary concern areas related to
environmental sanitation. Solid waste management is also increasingly seen as an important area in
UWSS. Legislation on municipal waste handling and management has been passed in October
2000. Some strategies on solid waste management include preparation of town-wise master plans,
training of municipal staff, IEC and awareness generation, involvement of community-based and
nongovernmental organizations, setting up and operation of compost plants via NGOs and the
private sector, enhancement of the capacities of some state structures such as State Compost
Development Corporations with emphasis on commercial operations and private sector
involvement. Variations in housing type, density and settlement layout, poverty status, and access to
networked services will lead to different solutions for sanitation in different parts of the city or
within the same neighbourhood.

National water policies are shifting to community-based management approach because local
authorities are in daily contact with users, of whom about 50% are women. Historically, national
policy shifted from attention to distribution of investments in the water sector to reorganization of
water agencies and to building up the capacity of private or voluntary agencies. The local context
allows for more efficient and effective responses to local conditions. Local institutions and groups
are better equipped to solicit local participation. Local water resource planning is very important in
strengthening the economic and individual capacity of poor people in underdeveloped areas.
Experience in Mahesana, Banaskantha, and Sabarkantha in Gujarat state supports this lesson
learned. One of the obstacles in Gujarat to water resource development is identified as increased
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 demand for public water
services and inadequate
provision of services due to
remoteness of the area and
financial limitations of central
agencies. Infrastructure is also
poorly maintained.

Providing private excreta

disposal would be expected to
reduce diarrhea by 42%, while
eliminating excreta around the
house would lead to a 30%
reduction in diarrhea. The
findings suggest that
improvements in both water
supply and sanitation are
necessary if infant health in
developing countries is to be
improved. They also imply that
it is not epidemiologic but
behavioral, institutional, and
economic factors that should correctly determine the priority of interventions.

Morbidity and mortality due to waterborne diseases have not declined commensurate with increase
in availability of potable water supply. More importantly, young children bear a huge part of the
burden of disease resulting from the lack of hygiene. India still loses between 0.4 and 0.5 million
children under 5 years due to diarrhea. While infant mortality and under 5 mortality rates have
declined over the years for the country as a whole, in many states, these have stagnated in recent
years. One of the reasons is the failure to make significant headway in improving personal and
home hygiene, especially in the care of young children and the conditions surrounding birth.

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 A Communistic Approach

In India itself govt. have

taken several steps to
provide proper sanitation to
the people who are not able
to gain proper sanitation
facilities and to keep the
surrounding clean such as
Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan
Clean India. The statistics clearly shows that the communistic approach have not failed here
as the work done by the government to provide proper sanitation even in very remote areas
also have also been fulfilled by the
government, it clearly shows that the
communist approach is the best for
providing the access to sanitation, clean
water and environment for the people
because in that way the govt will be
working for the welfare of the
community without any personnel greed
and with out any personal agenda hence. Issue of clean sanitation and environment can be
best dealt by the communistic approach.