STRATEGIES AND APPROACHES FOR SANITATION IN SLUMS OF HAJIPUR

Abstract

The large majority of Indian urban population is living in small and medium towns without access to adequate drinking water, safe sanitation, efficient drainage and sustainable solid waste disposal services. This calls for research in the existing scenario of the sanitation in the urban areas and especially in the slum pockets. There is a need for finding alternatives to the conventional approaches to sanitation services. The need for searching for better and improved sanitation measures both "bottom-up" or "topdown" approaches is the need of the hour. For the timely provision of the sanitation facilities in towns need political support at all levels, which is essential if the sanitation system has to be made demand oriented. The adoption of new methods or promotion and development of the sanitation will need to take efforts to familiarize elected officials, staffs of urban local bodies, planners and sanitation engineers with the concepts. The community as a whole must strive for this. Many municipalities of small towns in India do not attempt to enforce proper standards for on-site and off-site sanitation and waste management, and so, by default, allow unsanitary singlecompartment septic tanks and pit latrines discharging into roadside drains. The need for construction and maintenance of the sanitation services in smaller towns becomes more imperative as they have the potential of becoming bigger urban centres and the slum like settlements might get mushroomed in the town. The provision of sufficient sanitation service provision to the urban poor and slum dwellers by municipalities and other urban local bodies remains deficient, therefore, the small-scale public private partnership can play a significant role in ensuring the faster development of the sanitation system in urban settlements. This can be done through the provision of metered drinking water connections, service and maintenance charges, laying sewerage networks, and efficiently managing solid wastes. Integrated approaches must be developed through the scientific and systematic research and rational planning approach. This research work is an attempt to understand the best practices of the sanitation which can be replicated with due modifications in the small town. Political will, model legislation and institutional development and change in the mind-set ofpeople are necessary for increased awareness. As such, urgent redressal is important to ensure inclusion of all habitations with safe drinking water and safe disposal of wastewater. There has been a great deal of effort and work directed towards the various health and sanitation activities, it should also be noted that there has been little progress or changes are occurring at a much slower pace. Required basic sanitation and waste management services are not being met and it is very poor in the case of slum settlements in small and medium towns. In promoting the International Year of Water (2007), and International Year of Sanitation (2008) tiN Secretary LGeneral Ban Ki Moon recognized that sanitation is one of the crucial aspect of the development dicators.