What are the major water sanitation and hygiene programs run in India?
India’s population still has limited access to safe drinking water, Sanitation facilities. There is no denying the importance of clean drinking water for health and hygienic benefits. Therefore, in recent years, India and other global organizations have greatly focused on improving water, sanitation, and hygiene access for the majority of India’s population. The Government of India has associated with many vocations to develop healthier communities and improve livelihoods by facilitating more access to WASH services. Here are some mentions of major water and sanitation programs running in India currently:
- Indian Government partnership for ending open defecation and sanitation
In 2014, Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, provide the availability of clean water and hygiene-related amenities countrywide. For people living in rural areas who are prone to open defecation, the rate decreased from 550 million to 320 million.
Federal laws, as well as local governments, have participated in water sanitation and hygiene in India. UNICEF advocated in Child’s Environment Programmes to assist the government with the Total Sanitation Campaign. Its goal is to increase the availability and utilization of clean water and sanitation facilities.
USAID also collaborated with the Indian government to establish healthy towns by availing access to safe water and cleanliness. Many other government partnerships also inaugurated various models to enable consumable water and toilets to increase sanitation and hygiene in localities.
- HUL WASH Initiative
Thus, the Indian government started the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014. The continuous progress in health and sanitation is seeing tremendous success in the mission. Its great success has also influenced The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the mission more by helping in education and instituting new technologies, e.g., Sunidhi toilets.
Many additional initiatives have also been followed by the Swachh Bharat Mission, such as UNICEF’s National Rural Drinking Water Programme and implementation of WASH in schools and health facilities for developing water sanitation and hygiene in India. These initiatives make a great contribution to reducing unhygienic practices. Here are some key WASH advancements.
- Increased toilet access and job creations
With constructing various sanitation infrastructures, the mission has made economic benefits along with opening many job opportunities.
- Put increasing strain on water and sanitation services
More than 910 million citizens don’t have access to proper sanitation in India. Such governmental initiatives like WASH have put intense strain on availing water and sanitation services to help fund the sanitations services.
- Water access in rural communities
The National Water Mission has expanded to become a full-fledged program as National Rural Drinking Water Mission. Many other programs and departments work on addressing water sanitation and hygiene in India, while this mission’s primary objective is to institute pipe water supplies to rural households. Till 2019, more than 18% of rural households were provided with piped water supply.
- iJal water stations
These stations give locals access to clean, quality water in communities to reduce clean water scarcity.
- Advanced community toilets
The reason for open defecation is an improper sewer network and poorly maintained public toilets.
- Eram Group’s e-toilet program
Eram Scientific Solutions is a Kerala-based group that has pioneered the concept of e-toilets in India. With the collaborative power of many corporations, the program aims to install such toilet facilities all over the country. These toilets have all advanced features such as automated pre and after-flush, exhaust fans, and other cleaning and lighting activities.
- Cairn India’s RO technology for safe drinking water
Cairn India has also started a safe drinking water and sanitation program. This project works on installing water kiosks with the utilization of RO technologies to provide safe drinking water to the rural population to facilitate water sanitation and hygiene in India. Another attractive thing about this mission is, it uses renewable energy to run the units.
Indian government water sanitation programs and Initiatives have come a long way to upgrading its WASH issues. Many startups are making an effort to make sustainable development with water and sanitation projects to help out the Indian government with the successful manifestation of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.