Lack of access to sanitary products, privacy drives girls away from schools in Zambia

New report says girls prefer to stay home during menstruation for fear of staining their dresses, interacting with and being teased by boys, as …

Govt must get its hands dirty to rescue manual scavengers

Swachh Bharat Mission will end up perpetuating manual scavenging if the authorities fail to implement right toilet technology and manage the huge …

Glaring loopholes in new draft rules for groundwater extraction

The new draft rules for regulation of groundwater are a move towards decentralisation but many key concerns have been overlooked

From health to faith, everything at stake for refugees in Greece

Tens of thousands of these migrants now feel trapped in a country that is least equipped to provide care

How to reinvent the sanitation wheel

The city “shit-flow” diagram shows that the situation is grim as all cities either do not treat or safely dispose the bulk of the …

Slums on rent

Dhaka has seen a sharp rise in privately owned slums. Are these a better alternative to 'squatter settlements' common in India?

Helping slum-dwellers to help themselves

Involving the community in slum improvement has worked successfully in the Philippines and Mexico. Hidebound bureaucrats in the Third World, who …

Unrealistic approach killing rural sanitation programme

Smoke on the water

Holy mess

The Supreme Court pulls up the Orissa government for pollution in Puri

New look for seven Indian cities

Left unaddressed

Rehabilitation issue ignored in Kolkata's eviction drive

Sapping structures

Where do we dump it?

Budget 2023-24: Whither rural development? Allocation for livelihood and other schemes sees 14% cuts

Funds for central sector schemes and projects have been reduced to 113 crore from Rs 126 crore

Ground report: Tanzania’s sanitation battle is just half won

Part 1: CSE team finds awareness campaign for toilets is not enough, correct designs are needed as well 

Urban ladder: How ODF India tries to manage faecal sludge

In the absence of adequate rural treatment plants, a few states rope in underutilised urban facilities 

Water’s value cannot be pegged to its price alone: UN report

The tremendous value of water cannot be confused with the concepts of ‘price’ and ‘cost’, the report said

3 in 5 persons at farmer protest sites near Delhi have to defecate in open: Survey

Inadequate provisioning of toilets compromising health, nutrition and hygiene for all protesters, especially women, survey by Jan Swasthya …

Swachh Bharat Mission: Women take the lead in Himachal Pradesh

The state, with almost 60% of panchayats headed by women, tackled open defection by resolving the water crisis. It was declared open-defecation …

Swachh Bharat Mission: An outstanding achievement, but challenges remain

Including people who still lack toilets, overcoming partial toilet use and retrofitting sustainably unsafe toilets are some of the massive tasks ahead

Swachh Survekshan 2017 results on May 4; government says signs are ‘encouraging’

Besides covering larger number of cities and towns, this year’s survey also gives more importance to citizen feedback  

Why we cannot ignore the poor

One thing is clear—the solutions must work for the poor, for them to work for the rich

Gorakhpur's deadly curse

The Japanese encephalitis virus and enterovirus cannot be tackled unless the administration cleans up its act, observes Sonal Matharu

For a few dollars more

Developing countries immunised 80 per cent of their children by 1990 and saved millions of lives. But 35,000 children, under five years of age, …