India is the second-largest massively populated country globally after China, with more than half of its citizens living in suburban areas. Due to the vast population, limited access to water, the lower literacy rate in villages, citizens have inadequate access to hygiene and sanitation in India.
Poor hygiene and sanitation are the primary issues causing diseases that could be fatal in many developing and underdeveloping countries. India’s poor cleanliness and sanitation cause diseases like malaria, dengue, chikungunya, cholera, typhoid, and many more.
Even though with a project campaign of Swach Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) — started on October 2nd, 2014, by the Government of India, many people still throw garbage at the corner of alleyways, lakes, rivers, and oceans. In addition, India has a massive landfill area that is the size of a small village to dump waste which is still an issue to manage.
Sanitation issues
People who live in villages fail to understand that lack of sanitation in their homes is one of the biggest problems. There is no toilet in the home or society because they feel that the gutter will get clogged and prefer to go out in the field as they believe it aids digestion. Moreover, some village people are reluctant to clean their toilets as they think it is the task of Dalits (the lowest caste in India that is untouchable).
The villager’s subsidy to construct a toilet converted it into a storeroom — storing grass, cow dung cakes, etc. or goat shed or chickens, or many other things. Unfortunately, due to the lowest literacy level in villages, the village head always takes up their decision, who often neglect the sanitation problem in the village.
Hygiene issues
Before Covid-19, though there was an awareness of why it is essential to wash hands before eating, still more than 30% of people don’t wash their hands before touching food products. There are many places in India where young children are dying because of diarrhea and other respiratory diseases. Handwashing and sanitization came into rigorous practice only after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another issue India is facing is menstrual hygiene. Many young girls in villages are likely to skip schools during periods as there are not adequate menstrual hygiene products and sanitation facilities.
The other cleanliness issues
Other than villages, city people are also facing cleanliness issues. Even though there are many garbage stations every mile, people tend to throw them in the back of alleys or rivers or lakes or gutters, resulting in a flood during the monsoon as trash blocks the drains and hinders the rainwater from flowing.
Due to the high number of trash clog in the sewer, the Government hires sanitation workers, and because of the lack of types of equipment and safety measures, there are numbers of workers risking their lives and dying every day.
The Government initiative
On October 2nd, 2014, on Mahatma Gandhi’s 145th birth anniversary, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted Swacch Bharat (translates Clean India). An effort to spread cleanliness awareness in the nation and promote better hygiene. The initiative also encourages the development of toilets in rural areas and more hygienic public toilets. Clean India is recorded as the Largest Sanitation Initiative Globally.
The Government does many other initiatives:
- Mount Everest — An Indian army team of climbers brought back more than 4000 kgs of the waste trashed by climbers over the years from Mount Everest.
- Ganga River — Over a decade during the Indian festivals, millions of people offered flowers, incense sticks, and oil lamps to their deities, and it ended up in the river Ganga. The practice has been happening since ancient times. However, the Government decided to clean the Ganga river in Varanasi and Haridwar twice a day due to religious traditions. The equipment used to clean the water carries the flowers and turns the flower waste into vermicompost.
- Air Pollution — New Delhi, the capital of India, has the worst quality index. The Government has taken numerous initiatives to reduce air pollution, including an odd-even scheme where the odd digits vehicle number plates are allowed on the road on odd days and even number vehicles on even dates. In addition, Delhi is the first city in India to ban firecrackers on Diwali to curb air pollution. But, Delhi is still suffering and has the worst air quality.
There are many other Government initiatives to curb cleanliness and sanitation issues in India. Unfortunately, few of them turned out successful projects, but many projects are still hanging due to a lack of Government people looking after them and lack of awareness among citizens.
Solutions to make the cleanliness and sanitation projects successful in India:
1. Health Awareness
It is critical to make citizens understand the health risks they face due to poor cleanliness and sanitation. Therefore, there should be regular free health awareness and checkups conducted in rural areas and slums. The more citizens are aware of the health risk, the more they will ensure cleanliness in their areas.
2. Regular Water Supply
One of the most crucial issues that led to irregular cleanliness and high health issues is the lack of water supply in many areas of India. There are numerous villages where women walk miles to get water. Due to this, they choose to drink water and use it in cooking rather than building toilets at home.
3. More Toilets Development
More public toilets should be available in the rural and city areas to stop people urinating in public.
4. Free Distribution of Sanitary Napkins
Rural areas face the highest issue of using sanitary napkins for two reasons: lack of awareness and high rate of sanitary napkins, which force them to use unhygienic cloth napkins. Free distribution of sanitary napkins will help the women maintain their hygiene.
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Conclusion:
India has many loopholes when it comes to the system looking after the projects. Due to no strict actions taken against them and the high level of corruption. There should be a proper system to look after their work to tackle the cleanliness and sanitation issues.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash
