Govt launches new framework to sustain India’s ‘100% ODF status’

The Centre will proclaim India to be 100% ODF on October 2 and the new framework envisages its strategy to maintain that status

Clean public toilets: A matter of national honour

A survey by the Union housing ministry showed that 55% of public washrooms were either dirty or completely unusable in Delhi

Odisha needs to make apposite effort to have toilets in all its school

Who cares for toilets in school? 34% of schoolchildren in Odisha do, finds new study

Only 71.3% rural households have access to toilets, shows NSSO data

The report's findings trashes the grand claim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India is now open defecation free

Open-defecation-free Kandhamal: Only if the toilets would work

Toilets built under Swachh Bharat Mission did not have twin-pits for excreta collection or water supply, claimed villagers

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 

Open defecation in Nigeria: Faecal sludge is country's clicking time bomb

The country, which has the largest number of people defacting in the open, needs to frame a safe toilet technology and treat its faecal sludge, …

Gandhian Sanitation: Flood-prone Sahibganj uses height and bacteria to manage its waste

Flood-prone blocks of Sahibganj in Jharkhand use biodigester toilets; these comprise a series of concrete tanks that contain sheets with an …

New evidence emerges on how Mayas fortified maize, built indoor toilets

Scientists find maize starch spherulites , a unique byproduct of nixtamalisation, as well as tapeworms at a Maya archaeological site

Sustained focus, behaviour change needed to make people use new toilets: study

Adding a behaviour change component to sanitation programmes can motivate people to use toilets, it finds

Fast track work on ODF+ and ODF++: Parliamentary panel to govt

Less than 30% of cities certified as ODF+ under Phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban-2), the panel’s report found

Economic Survey 2018-19: Swachh Bharat needs to move to next level

Document declares that since toilets have been built, the focus will now shift to solid waste management

Shocking irregularities found by CAG among toilets constructed in govt schools

Toilets were non-existent, partially constructed, did not have water, were not hygienic and had many other shortcomings

Swachh Bharat Mission: ‘Inducing behavioural change was a task’

Parameswaran Iyer, secretary, Department of Drinking water and Sanitation, spoke to Down To Earth on how intensive information-education-…

Besides illegal structures, tourist influx, focus on sanitation systems in Himalayas too: CSE

Most Himalayan towns lack sewerage systems; millions of litres of grey water seeps into the clayey, loamy soil, making landslides inevitable

What a waste: Reviving India’s sanitation systems

Indians often confuse toilets with sanitation; but they are mere repositories to receive waste    

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 …

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: What are the barriers for toilet construction

Ability to raise the initial funds, lack of space in urban slums and lack of awareness is hampering the sanitation programme

The struggle to get inclusive education to south Odisha’s tribal children

Already marginalised, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on tribal groups, especially children in Koraput; but civil society is trying its best to …

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 …

Quality of life in informal settlements: Basic sanitation services a luxury

The SC/ST community had the highest proportion of those who did not have access to a toilet

As told to Parliament (February 6, 2023): India produces around 30 million tonnes of recycled steel

List of companies that produce recycled steel in India is not maintained centrally, says Faggan Singh Kulaste, Union minister of state for …

Bihar elections 2020: Who is talking about safai karmacharis?

The Bihar govt refuses to identify manual scavengers; the latter continue to face abuse and death threats 

Swachh Bharat Mission Phase II guidelines released

Safe toilets, with well managed black and grey water, are the need of the hour, particularly in rural areas

Is India really open-defecation-free? Here’s what numbers say

15% of the total population in India defecates in the open in India, according to WASH report 2021