A farewell to farms
Ladakh survives on its farms. But can agriculture survive government policies?
Letters
Can faith heal?
Billed as the largest gathering of humanity in recorded history, Maha Kumbh has commenced in Allahabad. Over the next few weeks, pilgrims will …
Ecologically mindless
The flush toilet system and the sewage system, which goes with modern day personal hygiene and cleanliness, are part of the environmental problem …
No toilet built in Delhi under Swachh Bharat Mission; Rs 40 crore remains unused: CAG
The implementing agencies ignored toilet requirements in unauthorised colonies, showing scant concerns for public convenience, says the report
Govt launches new framework to sustain India’s ‘100% ODF status’
The Centre will proclaim India to be 100% ODF on October 2 and the new framework envisages its strategy to maintain that status
Could bio-toilets solve India's sanitation problems and save the Yamuna river?
The Indian Railways is now adopting bio-toilets in recognition of their affordability, ease of maintenance and water savings
Clean public toilets: A matter of national honour
A survey by the Union housing ministry showed that 55% of public washrooms were either dirty or completely unusable in Delhi
Odisha needs to make apposite effort to have toilets in all its school
Who cares for toilets in school? 34% of schoolchildren in Odisha do, finds new study
Only 71.3% rural households have access to toilets, shows NSSO data
The report's findings trashes the grand claim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India is now open defecation free
Swachh Bharat Mission: another futile toilet chase?
Swachh Bharat Mission is blindly chasing toilets-a private good and not behavioural change – a public good essential to secure sanitation
The world needs more toilets – but not ones that flush
The invention of the flush toilet was probably one of the most unsustainable innovations in human history
Open-defecation-free Kandhamal: Only if the toilets would work
Toilets built under Swachh Bharat Mission did not have twin-pits for excreta collection or water supply, claimed villagers
The morning after
Human excreta is rich in soil nutrients. In a year, one person craps 4.56 kg of nitrogen (n), 0.55 kg phosphorus (p) and 1.28 kg potassium (k)&…
Urban ladder: How ODF India tries to manage faecal sludge
In the absence of adequate rural treatment plants, a few states rope in underutilised urban facilities
Emerging alternatives
A novel project in Kerala tries to introduce a sanitation technology that promises a cleaner and healthier environment
Open defecation in Nigeria: Faecal sludge is country's clicking time bomb
The country, which has the largest number of people defacting in the open, needs to frame a safe toilet technology and treat its faecal sludge, …
Half the public places do not manage waste water and litter
A government survey of 16 states in India finds that 51% and 53% public spaces in hills and plains respectively have unhygienic surroundings
Begging to whistling, rural India doing everything to end open defecation
Several villages in India are coming up with out-of-the-box ideas to discourage open defecation
On green track
Railways has fitted more bio-toilets this year than the total number fitted in the last three years
Gandhian Sanitation: Flood-prone Sahibganj uses height and bacteria to manage its waste
Flood-prone blocks of Sahibganj in Jharkhand use biodigester toilets; these comprise a series of concrete tanks that contain sheets with an …