Only 30% of urban households are connected to a central sewer system

Prof V Srinivas Chary is the Director, Centre for Energy, Environment, Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development at ASCI. He is also a member of National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Alliance (NFSSM Alliance), which was instrumental in passing Indias first national policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India in 2017.
He tells TOI that processing and safe disposal of municipal solid waste is not a priority for most states.
Q 1: Managing solid waste in India continues to be one of the biggest challenge in India. Overflowing landfill sites are a common sight across metros. Do you think the existing policies have proved to be inadequate in addressing the challenge?
Ans: The policies at the national and at the state level are clear and adequate. The issue is about implementation. Processing and safe disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is not a priority for most of the State Governments and they are not providing adequate facilitative technical and budgetary support to the urban local bodies. Weak capacities of cities to plan, design, finance and manage waste processing are delaying the progress, leading to overflowing landfills, increased disease burden, and pollution. The awareness level of municipalities about technology choices and best practices is low. Typically, budgetary allocations in India look to sustain collection and transportation as a service leaving very little for processing and resource recovery. Important tools such as the user fee and extended producer responsibility (EPR) must be implemented effectively to underline the basis of our rules i.e. polluter pays principle and instill a sense of inclusivity in waste management.
This said, National Green Tribunals (NGT) is nudging state governments to assume a greater role and I hope to see some traction in the near future. I am also positive that the new generation of start-ups and think tanks are gearing up to partner with the government to live up to this challenge.
Q 2: The governments flagship Swachh Bharat Mission has a component on managing solid waste. But most of the work that has happened under the program revolved around building toilets, with little focus on solid waste management. Your comments.
Ans: Swachh Bharat Mission has been a prime mover catalysing reforms in the space of sanitation. The mission doctored nationally has brought about the desired awareness and a sense of public ownership in concept of Swachh. Concepts such as Swachh Sarvekshan leading to initiatives such as garbage free rating in cities has also gone a long way institutionalising the idea of Swachh India. It is understandable that any scheme that is introduced has a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that become the soul of its implementation and eradication of open defecation leading to major health issues along with contamination of ground water was one such goal.
Though the mission sought to touch upon some aspects relating to solid waste management, it lacked the emphasis on creating a sustainable source of funding for waste management activities at the local body level and structurally empowering institutions to handle waste management. As we know waste management is an activity is performed on a round the clock basis and must have adequate resources in terms of human resources, expertise and revenue to sustain. We must look to evolve constantly by addressing such issues quickly to address the waste management. We hope SBM 2.0 will give greater emphasis for municipal waste processing and disposal.
Q 3: There are instances galore of people not using the toilets that have been built. Do you think there is a need to think out of box to bring behavioural change in people?
Ans: Part of the problem is the quality of toilets built, especially the public toilets. Many toilets built in urban areas have a septic tank and single pit as a containment system. These toilet typologies are prone to overflow and involves periodic desludging. This means an additional expenditure of Rs 2500-3000 on the household for desludging by an unregulated private operator. Hence, you would notice men and children (due to perception) resort to open defecation to avoid these desludging costs. Governments should introduce faecal sludge management policies and if needed subsidize the cost of desludging for the low-income population. Lack of availability of water and poor maintenance of public and community toilets contribute to recurrence of open defecation.
Further, sustained behavior change communication (BCC) for addressing social norms around the usage of the toilet is paramount. Television is all-pervasive and the government should use this medium and storytelling format for BCC. Recent evidence suggests that people's choices and decisions are not always rational but determined by a number of complex psychological and behavioural factors. Using nudges – small, easy and timely suggestions to influence behaviour – will have a profound and lasting impact on behaviour.
Q 4: What are the key issues that the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management Alliance is looking at? How has a national policy helped in managing faecal sludge and septage?
Ans: Under Swachh Bharat Mission, people have adopted and welcomed toilets into their homes. But safe sanitation is beyond toilets. For many of us, it is easy to take the complexity of the sanitation system for granted. We flush and assume that the waste will be carried to a place of safe treatment (sewage treatment plant). Many of our fellow citizens even in urban India however, lack such an easy fix. Only 30 per cent of urban households are connected to a central sewer system. The remaining 70% of households use onsite sanitation (OSS) containment systems, such as septic tanks and pit latrines. To enable safe sanitation for all, therefore, non-sewered, decentralized, and alternate cost-effective and scalable options for the safe management of nasty faecal sludge and septage generated in this OSS are the need of the hour.
An interdisciplinary group of institutions and individuals committed to India's progress towards safe sanitation has instituted National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance. This Alliance is playing a catalytic role by supporting the national and state governments in developing policies, regulations and designing infrastructure for safe FSSM. India is one of the first countries to have announced a national policy on faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) in 2017. The national policy highlighted the importance of worker safety, record keeping and behaviour change cRead More – Source