Open Defecation is History but Unscientific Waste Management Persists

PM Modi during his address to the nation from New Delhi’s Rajpath on October 2nd 2014 said that clean India would be the best tribute Indian people could pay to the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi. October 2nd 2014 was the day when Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Campaign) was formally launched across India. The campaign was aimed to achieve the vision of a ‘Clean India’ by 2nd October 2019 which was marked as Gandhi Ji’s 150th birth anniversary. A lot has been achieved indeed vis a vis countering open defecation problem but when it comes to scientific waste management, that still remains a big challenge across India. This is a burning issue in Jammu & Kashmir as well and in Kashmir valley the situation remains more demanding as Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) enters 10th year of its launch. The Swachh Bharat Mission-SBM also called Swachh Bharat Abhiyan-SBA is the most remarkable sanitation campaign initiated by the Government of India under leadership of PM Narendra Modi. Infact, sanitation campaigns like Total Sanitation Campaign -TSP was taken up in the past also during Congress led UPA Govt, but this scheme had low budget and didn’t address open defecation in India, but SBM addressed this issue to a great extent. The waste management which is part of SBM Phase 2 still remains a challenging task for all the local bodies and PRI institutions. Youtubers and SMB Prime Minister Narendra Modi on completion of 9 years of Swachh Bharat Mission-SBM said that SBM became a big campaign in the last nine years and everyone contributed to it including children who brought an emotional power to it. In his video address at YouTube Fanfest India PM Modi said, celebrities gave the campaign heights and people in all corners of the country turned it into a mission and YouTubers made cleanliness more cool. He said, but we do not have to stop here. The Prime Minister said, till the time cleanliness does not become India’s identity, the nation will not stop. He said, therefore, cleanliness must be a priority for each citizen of India. 40 Million Toilets in 4 years In 2019-2020, the Govt of India announced that all the SBM targets had been met. The figures were impressive as than 40 million toilets were built in four years, meaning access to sanitation rose from under 40% in 2014 to nearly 100% in 2020. This success was “formalised” the following year when the annual report from the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) run by the United Nations (UN) noted a reduction of nearly 50% in the number of people in the world practising open defecation. The better sanitation services in India has brought a great revolution and previously struggling indicators has considerably improved at global level because India being a huge country had a large population that was defecating in the open and that has come down dramatically in the last 7 to 8 years. Non functional toilets The UN’s Joint Monitoring Programme -JMP had noted that the figures provided by the Govt were a bit less optimistic as Government agencies only measure the presence or absence of toilets while the UN establishes a “ladder of services’ ‘. Thus a poorly contained or shared latrine or one with an outlet into a waterbody like stream , irrigation canal or a wetland will be categorised as “unimproved” or “limited” sanitation by the JMP. The Governments in states and UTs on the other hand counts it as a toilet even if it is not properly functioning like having being blocked or not having water connectivity or having an outlet in a waterbody. In a Govt High School at village Sani Darwan – Charar e Sharief in district Budgam this summer I noticed that 4 to 5 washrooms had been constructed more than 3 years back but they were non operational due to not being connected to a water pipeline. During the visit of Chairman District Development Council Budgam Nazir Ahmad Khan in June this year , the female students of this school raised this issue. I was also present on the occasion and seeing this pathetic condition I quickly made a video on it. I uploaded it on social media. The Mission Director Jal Jeevan Mission J&K Dr G N Itoo was kind enough to take cognizance of the matter and within 24 hours the washrooms were functional. On papers these washrooms were shown to be operational and functional for 3 years but the situation on ground was quite different. We have many such cases wherein community toilets are non operational but they are shown to be functional. Conclusion The Govt of India has successfully countered open defecation across the country but managing waste is still a big challenge . This is more challenging in Jammu & Kashmir especially. Infact huge funds have been pumped to J&K by Govt of India under SBM Gramin phase 2 and SBM Urban phase 2. At an average Rs 4.50 lakhs are provided to each Gram Panchayat for constructing segregation sheds , compost pits and soakage pits. For 5000 village panchayats across J&K more than Rs 225 Crores has been allocated. In addition, crores of rupees have been spent on purchase of steel trash bins as well. Rs 23.40 lakhs are given to each panchayat halqa every year plus share from 14th FC , DDC and BDC grants. This indicates the deficiency of funds is not at all an issue especially from the last 2 to 3 years. We lack better coordination and work culture in the Rural Development Department. The SWM Consultants at district level were not hired by Govt which is mandatory as per SBM Gramin phase 2 guidelines. The civil engineers in RDD have done the work themselves which isn’t showing any results on the ground. Our forests , wetlands , lakes and streams in villages are choked with trash. These things need to be addressed once for all. Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer