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11. Unearthed - Facts of On-Site Sanitation in Urban India

Author:
Shubhagato Dasgupta, Neha Agarwal, and Anindita Mukherjee
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
As per the National Sample Survey 2018, nearly 60% of urban India relies on On-Site Sanitation (OSS) systems, like septic tanks and leaching pits, for the management of faecal waste. Augmentation of toilet access over the last five years under the Swachh Bharat Mission has only served to entrench this dependence, despite a push for centralized sewerage systems underwritten by schemes like AMRUT in Class I cities during the same period. Notwithstanding their scale and criticality to public health outcomes, OSS systems are poorly regulated and consequently ill-constructed in India. Therefore, it is vital to address the deficiencies in the downstream sanitation service chain beyond the toilet – beginning with the OSS system - to ensure that India meets its targets toward providing ‘Safely Managed Sanitation Services’ under the Sustainable Development Goal 6. The present study is a novel attempt to systematically analyse the state of OSS in urban India through a sample survey of 3000 households and more than 50 key informant-interviews across ten cities in four states. It shows that septic tanks, confused in common parlance and practice for a septic tank system, comprise the majority of all OSS systems at over 90%. However, in meeting household-level preferences, these systems exhibit variations along each of the principal design parameters, which cumulatively result in less than 2% of all surveyed septic tanks meeting the major requirements of the national governing standards. It finds OSS fraught with several compelling needs, including the inefficacy of septic tanks as primary treatment units, the lack of secondary treatment and safe disposal of pathogenic effluent, their delayed maintenance, and the lack of greywater management. In systematically identifying these issues, the report also recommends interventions in design, planning, and governance for safer and more sustainable on-site sanitation.
Topic:
Water, Infrastructure, Urban, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

12. Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U)

Author:
Avani Kapur and Sanjana Malhotra
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
The Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U) is the Government of India’s (GoI) flagship programme targeting universal sanitation coverage in urban areas. Using government data, this brief reports on: Allocations, releases, and expenditures, State-wise and component wise trends in releases, Progress on toilets built, Progress on Solid Waste Management (SWM), and Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
Topic:
Government, Infrastructure, Budget, Urban, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

13. Policy Note: Dialogues On Sanitation: Legal Perspectives on Sanitation in Urban India

Author:
Scaling City Institutions for India: Sanitation
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
The event was organised as a part of ‘Dialogues on Sanitation’ series and specifically focused on the legal and regulatory regime pertaining to urban sanitation. The event brought together senior policymakers, city and state level implementers, technocrats, members of the civil society and legal experts to brainstorm towards bettering the regulatory regime on urban sanitation. Several aspects such as the role of law and regulation in Faecal Sludge Management, rights of sanitary workers, and public-private participation in Urban Sanitation were discussed during the course of the workshop.
Topic:
Government, Law, Regulation, Urban, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

14. Demystifying the Indian Smart City: An Empirical Reading of the Smart Cities Mission

Author:
Persis Taraporevala
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
The newly elected federal Government of India (GoI) launched the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) in 2015 with the stated purpose of improving the governance and infrastructural deficiencies that plague Indian cities. Missing, however, in the pageantry of the new programme is a cohesive understanding of a smart city. While the government documentation repeatedly implies infinite liberty for cities to self-define their understanding of ‘smartness’, the actions demonstrate that there is a larger idea of ‘smartness’ that the federal government seeks to implement. It is at this disjunction, between the rhetoric and practice of the Mission, that this paper finds its core research question – ‘What constitutes a smart city in India?’ Through a detailed reading of the government documentation of the top 99 cities, the paper argues that the there is a profound chasm between the professed objectives of the Mission and the strategies enacted to achieve these objectives.
Topic:
Development, Government, Infrastructure, Social Policy, and Urban
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

15. Ethnography of Sanitation in Small Towns: A Study of Angul and Dhenkanal, Odisha

Author:
Ranjita Mohanty and Anju Dwivedi
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
In the current sanitation policy discourse, cultural norms of purity and pollution are considered as major obstacles to toilet behaviour leading emphasis on behavioural change to orient people to use toilets. This study conducted in 21 slums in Angul and Dhenkanal, two small towns in Odisha, explores the sociocultural norms, behaviour and practices that influence sanitation in small towns. The study shows that culture doesn’t operate in isolation. Cultural interacts with multiple factors such as physical space in urban areas, resources people have to invest in toilet, essential infrastructure such as water, and cost effective technology that people can access. Culture influences these aspects of sanitation as well as gets influenced by them. The study highlights that people adapt in various degrees to their physical environment, thus compromising on cultural norms and beliefs but there are certain non-negotiable norms that are not compromised. This calls for decoding the cultural determinants of sanitation. The study suggest that for effective governance of sanitation, policies need to take the above mentioned factors into consideration, and create scope for understanding how culture works in a particular context and influences sanitation behaviour, choices, and practices of the poor. The study was conducted by the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, under the Scaling City Institutions for India (SCI-FI) Project on Urban Sanitation, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Topic:
Social Policy, Ethnography, Urban, Sanitation, and Pollution
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

16. Training Manual on Non-Sewered Urban Sanitation

Author:
Shubhagato Dasgupta, Anju Dwivedi, Ambarish Karunanithi, Swati Dhiman, Deepti Raj, and Neha Agarwal
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Odisha, while being among the relatively less urbanized states in the country, has registered a significantly high decadal urban growth rate of 27%, with the urban population growing from 37 million to 42 million during the decade 2001-2011. With the addition of small towns in the Census, the Government of Odisha has committed itself to address the challenges of poor sanitation and inadequate infrastructure related to sanitation in urban areas. The Government of Odisha has undertaken significant efforts towards improving urban sanitation in Odisha. As part of this effort, large-scale underground sewerage projects are being implemented in major cities. Keeping in view the challenges in executing underground sewerage projects and the high cost implications, over the last two years Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha with support of Scaling City Institutions for India: Sanitation (SCI-FI) team at the Centre for Policy Research have engaged in finding appropriate lower-cost, more easily implementable solutions for city-wide environmental sanitation in two small towns (Angul and Dhenkanal) and AMRUT Cities. The Odisha Urban Sanitation Policy and the Odisha Urban Sanitation Strategy released in late 2016 supported by Scaling City Institutions for India: Sanitation (SCI-FI) team at the Centre for Policy Research lay out the state strategy for sanitation emphasizing alternative solutions. This strategy is under active implementation currently and will ensure improved sanitation across our secondary and smaller cities. The ‘Training Manual for Non-Sewered Urban Sanitation’ was developed by the Scaling City Institutions for India: Sanitation (SCI-FI) team at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, with the able support of the Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha. This training manual is an essential instrument for furthering the goals of the Odisha Urban Sanitation Policy. It adapts most recent developments from across the globe, translating the lessons to make the training modules relevant in the context of Odisha. The subsections include: Module 1: Sanitation and Its Relevance; Module 2: Sanitation Flow Diagram; Module 3: Institutional and Policy Framework for Waste Water Management; Module 4: Urban Waste Water Management Systems; Module 5: Introduction to Faecal Sludge Management; Module 6: Containment and Handling of Faecal Sludge; Module 7: Treatment and Re-use/ Disposal of Faecal Sludge; Module 8: Operation and Maintenance of Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant; Module 9: Financial Management; Module 10: Community Engagement in Faecal Sludge Management; Module 11: Planning of Faecal Sludge Management System. This manual shall be a good resource to train all officials and other stakeholders involved in local service delivery to achieve the Odisha Urban Sanitation Policy targets.
Topic:
Government, Training, Urban, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

17. Integrating Urban Development and Climate Objectives: Insights from Coimbatore

Author:
Ankit Bhardwaj and Radhika Khosla
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
Indian cities routinely make decisions on land use, housing, water, transport, economic growth and waste management that have implications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Aligning these sectoral actions with climate goals involves understanding how infrastructural systems interact and how these choices address both development and climate objectives. City governments, as managers of these various infrastructure systems, can co-ordinate such decision-making. However, so far, this is largely ad hoc. We show how cities can use a ‘multiple objective’ approach to systematically examine, and make explicit, the linkages between local objectives, climate change mitigation and adaptation across their planning portfolio.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Water, Economic growth, Urban, and Sanitation
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

18. Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban): Need vs Planning

Author:
Sama Khan
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
This paper analyses the effectiveness of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) by analyzing the financial and physical progress of the mission and the manner in which funds have been allocated and sanctioned to different activities in various states. It examines the planned allocation of central funds (i) between the SBM (Urban) and the rural component, SBM (Gramin) (ii) among the various components of SBM-U, i.e., Construction of Individual Household Latrines and Community Toilets (IHHLs and CTs), Solid Waste Management (SWM), Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and Capacity Building (CB) and (iii) across different states and UTs. It finds that the disparity in funding between the SBM-U and SBM-G does not reflect the risk-adjusted need of urban areas, given their complexities of urban congestion and poverty that lead to higher health and environmental risk. The allocation of funds between the various components of SBM-U undervalues the need for proper solid waste management, IEC and Capacity Building and appears to ignore their effect on sanitation practices, the importance of building capacity to properly manage waste from the increasing number of toilets constructed and more organized solid waste disposal. Finally, the pattern of the allocation of funds between states does not benefit states that need it the most, in terms of states that have a lower share of in-house toilets, because the funds were allocated on the basis of the share of urban population and statutory towns. The paper concludes with recommendations to rectify some of these shortcomings.
Topic:
Environment, Poverty, Finance, Economy, and Urban
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

19. Youth in India: Prospects and Challenges

Author:
Bhanu Joshi and Eesha Kunduri
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
India is the youngest country amongst the BRICS. It is estimated that by 2020 the working age population in India would be about 592 million, second to that of China’s (776 million). Theorised in terms of the ‘youth bulge’ or ‘demographic dividend’, this holds out prospects as well as challenges for a developing country like India. This note approaches the question of youth in contemporary urban India by shedding light on a variety of perspectives: the institutional structure and governance framework for young people in India, the involvement of and interest of young people in politics, employment-unemployment amongst youth, aspirations, and everyday politics of the youth. By considering both formal politics and political representations among youth as also more everyday forms of politics and aspirational dimensions of youth engagement, this note attempts to develop a holistic snapshot of contemporary urban youth.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, Politics, Employment, Youth, Urban, and Unemployment
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia

20. India: Meeting Energy Needs for Development While Addressing Climate Change

Author:
Radhika Khosla
Publication Date:
12-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for Policy Research, India
Abstract:
India is undergoing structural urban and economic transitions and has set ambitious policy targets to meet its rising energy needs for development. Expanding coal and renewables are two important pillars of this undertaking and, since 2008, climate protection is of increasing concern. India’s international engagements reflect these motivations of both energy security and climate change, where India is increasingly engaging in transfer of clean and efficient energy technologies to developing countries like itself.
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Energy Policy, Economic growth, and Urban
Political Geography:
South Asia, India, and Asia