Drain cleaning to be mechanised in urban bodies

Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Administration S Suresh Kumar said there was a need to adopt new technology in tackling sanitation challenges.

“It’s really shameful that India has more mobile phones than toilets. Many households in cities depend on public toilets, while a large number of them defecate in the open.

We need to launch a mass movement to change this,” the Minister said in his address at the workshop on “Preparation of City Sanitation Plan (CSP)” for eight municipal corporations of the State.

Director of the Centre for Energy, Environment, Urban Governance and Infrastructure Development, Srinivasa Chary Vedala, said sanitation was not just about clearing of garbage but a part of public health which also comprises water and hygiene.

As per the 10th Annual World Science Monitor Report, India tops the list of 10 countries which lack sanitary facilities. “The state of our cities,” Vedala observed, “is incompatible with our socio-economic growth. We still cling to old and expensive methods of disposal of waste water. It's time we adopted newer methods.”

City sanitation plan

CSP, prepared after the National Urban Sanitation Policy was released in 2008, aims to achieve totally sanitised, healthy and liveable cities. It also strives to ensure and sustain good public health and environmental outcomes for all the citizens with a special focus on hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities for the urban poor and women.

Mysore, Mangalore, Tumkur, Davangere, Bellary, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, and Gulbarga will be covered under CSP. The major goal of CSP is to ensure that every household has an individual toilet.