Kolkata sewer deaths: Do not improve sewerage and water supply at the cost of sanitation workers

4 lives lost puts many on the dock including local officials as well as state government 

Punjab closer to ODF sustainability with community toilet guidelines

Recommendations not clear on how to treat waste, reuse groundwater   

Swachh Survekshan Gramin reports 62% toilet coverage, surveys 0.72% villages in India

Toilet construction, rather than usage, seems to be the focus of the survey report

Behaviour change at many levels needed to make India open defecation-free

National Consultation on Rural Sanitation calls for triggering mindset change, but lack of credible data on health and sanitation is a challenge

Children: victims of war and poverty

Dry urine has great benefits for farmers: Scientist explains reuse techniques

Prithvi Simha from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences talks about the benefits of drying urine

Union Budget 2022-23: Why rural Swachh Bharat Mission needs to be back in focus

A lot needs to be done to ensure faecal sludge is treated before reaching water source

Cheering for toilets, with caution

The country did successfully build 100 million toilets, but this success must be made sustainable

Swachh Bharat Mission: Sustenance is the mantra

Changing a habit requires time, effort and constant motivation

Simply put: Dalit children beaten to death for defecating in open

NFHS-5: Why figures on improved sanitation shouldn’t be taken on face value

The latest NHFS-5 figures on improved sanitation are restricted to a select number of households and individuals and have been taken from a …

Rooftop rainwater harvesting: A tool for refashioning India’s water management praxis

Discipline of water management is now situated at the precipice of change; it has opened its traditionally closed and ‘elite’ …

Swachh Bharat is now about toilets built, not change in attitude: Experts

At a book launch in New Delhi, sanitation experts say the scheme has defeated the purpose of community-led total sanitation approach

Coercive measures under Swachh Bharat Mission impinging on people’s freedom

Due to strict deadline of the SBM, the officials are now trying to coerce communities to stop open defecation and passing stringent laws

Not yet clean

Swachh Bharat Mission completes two years, but India is far from achieving its goal.

Drought hinders efforts to make Maharashtra open defecation-free

The drought scenario in Maharashtra forces us to think what will happen to the ambitious plan of making the state 100 per cent Open Defecation-free

Deonar Dump To close

India even behind Somalia when it comes to safely managing sanitation services

The JMP report also shows significant inequalities in basic drinking water and sanitation services within regions

Sanitary insights

January 2, 2017, is the 15th death anniversary of Anil Agarwal, founder of the Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth. This year, …

How true were PM Modi’s claims made during Independence Day speech?

A probing look into his claims reveals that not all that he said is in sync with the official data

Thirty-year journey to ODF

Sanitation programmes remained a mirage until the government shifted focus to information, education and communication

Simply put: No basic facilities, no vote

Rural poor yet to see benefits of improving sanitation in Tanzania

Open defecation has reduced from 20% in 2012 to 5% in 2017 but benefits have largely gone to the rich

Ethiopia curbed open defecation at fastest rate; what can India learn?

Unlike India, Ethiopia has recognised sanitation as a health problem and focused on behavioural change over toilet construction

The world needs more toilets – but not ones that flush

The invention of the flush toilet was probably one of the most unsustainable innovations in human history