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

Weak municipalities, governance failure stalling progress of Swachh Bharat: experts

The panelists suggested that the Centre should find ways to reform governance and change attitudes

Coercive measures under Swachh Bharat Mission impinging on people’s freedom

Due to strict deadline of the SBM, the officials are now trying to coerce communities to stop open defecation and passing stringent laws

India's queue for toilets is the longest

If you stretched all 774 million people in India now waiting for household toilets, the queue would stretch from Earth to the moon – and …

Next gen toilets

Bacteria from Antarctica could help free India of the problems caused by open defecation

Global aid on sanitation is southward bound

Down To Earth wins Indian Sanitation Coalition-FICCI award for its coverage on sanitation

Besides sustained campaigns on sanitation, Down To Earth has been exploring the connection between sanitation and health in order to trigger a …

Sanitary insights

January 2, 2017, is the 15th death anniversary of Anil Agarwal, founder of the Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth. This year, …

Toilet training

Break the odour

Wanted: technologies to make urinals waterless, stink-free

Two steps ahead

After becoming the first large state to achieve total sanitation, Himachal Pradesh is all geared up to manage its waste and ensure cleanliness. …

Plain talk about crap

Book>> The Big Necessity, The Unmentionable World Of Human Waste And Why It Matters • by Rose George • Metropolitan Books • …

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

Tying up with sanitation ecosystems

It is imperative to reimagine the role of the corporate beyond funding and infrastructure creation to achieve a sustainable sanitation ecosystem

How to reinvent the sanitation wheel

The city “shit-flow” diagram shows that the situation is grim as all cities either do not treat or safely dispose the bulk of the …

California for eco-friendly toilets

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 …

Budget focuses on Gramin Swachh Bharat, clean railways

Swachh Bharat Gramin allocated almost 55 per cent higher funds; by 2019 all coaches of Indian Railways to be fitted with bio toilets 

Will India get freedom from open defecation?

Skyrocketing numbers on government websites project a doubtful picture of what has been achieved in one year. Read our Independence Day special

An artistic solution

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

A zero waste toilet to achieve a clean India

Locals in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh consistently choose evapotranspiration toilet, a zero waste model which requires no human intervention over …

Back to toilet school

On August 15, the government announced it had achieved the target of building toilets in all schools in India. But are these toilets functional?

Housing and toilets: exclusions

Who gets access to toilets, and how, is linked to their position in the hierarchy of citizenship