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, …

UN highlights importance of water in maintaining global peace

Stresses the need for better water management techniques worldwide

Junk stops here

Meet bureaucrat Yishey D Yongda, determined to turn Sikkim into a zero-waste zone

Fragile, conflict-affected states disproportionately affected by climate change concentrated in Africa: IMF 

By 2040, fragile states could face 61 days a year of temperatures above 35°C — four times more than other countries

Water, Africa’s Gold: How poverty exacerbated Nigeria’s acute water crisis

Lack of clear government funding led to avoidable deaths from water-borne diseases like cholera

What does quarantine mean and when did it begin

In the 14th century, ships arriving at Venice were made to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing. This practice, called quarantine, was …

What happens to our excreta? Shit Flow Diagrams will help you track

Open-defecation free status is fine, but ensuring sustainable management of our faecal sludge is crucial

Building toilets in rural schools is not enough, they have to be usable too

Around 23 per cent of rural schools have unusable toilets and 11.5 per cent have no separate toilets for girls, finds the 13th ASER report 

A zero waste toilet to achieve a clean India

Locals in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh consistently choose evapotranspiration toilet, a zero waste model which requires no human intervention over …

'78% of sewage generated in India remains untreated'

Analysis and reporting by Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth magazine reveal how Indian cities are disposing of excreta in an …

Back to toilet school

On August 15, the government announced it had achieved the target of building toilets in all schools in India. But are these toilets functional?

Housing and toilets: exclusions

Who gets access to toilets, and how, is linked to their position in the hierarchy of citizenship

Letters

Budget 2021-22 should provide for sustainable water supply, soaps under PDS

Nirmala Sitharaman should increase allocation for Jal Jeevan Mission substantially

Roadblocks for bio-toilets in India

Bio-toilets are gaining ground. But emerging challenges could defeat the purpose

A fluid right

Campaign to make water and sanitation a right gathers momentum

Green cussedness, anyone?

They did the impossible on land that held no hope

Over 50% of world population to face water shortages by 2050: FAO urges countries to prepare for it

With agriculture contributing to 70% of freshwater consumption, agrifood systems thus become central to the water scarcity faced by the world, …

Cholera: Vaccines can stop spread, but biggest deterrent is clean water

Vaccinologists Edina Amponsah-Dacosta and Julie Copelyn speak about cholera vaccine and other ways to curb outbreaks in countries like South Africa

25% healthcare centres lack water facilities, 20% sanitation facilities: WHO

The report highlights that each year 17 million women in least developed countries give birth in centres with inadequate facilities for water, …