The Future of Sanitation in India

With an aspiring and young population, there is a growing demand from the citizens and government officials alike to provide quality basic services like sanitation. India is rapidly urbanizing and this is putting a huge strain on the existing sanitation facilities, especially in urban slums.

The future of sanitation in India involves making a paradigm shift in thinking and leapfrogging in creating sanitation infrastructure like toilets and supporting sewerage systems. This requires driving initiatives like Project Sammaan and scaling them up rapidly to benefit millions of Indians who don’t have access to toilets.

Like every other sanitation initiative, Project Sammaan is not immune to challenges. These include, but are not restricted to:

• Availability of land to build sanitation facilities – The urban areas in India esp the slums are over crowded and pretty much constrained on the land. So it is difficult to build large sanitation facilities that cater to all the citizens who need a toilet.

• Availability of sufficient water and sewerage systems – A successful sanitation facility needs sufficient water and a robust sewerage system. Otherwise, the facility will collapse soon. However, many slums in India don’t have sufficient proper drainage systems and don’t have access to 24 hour water sources.

• Resistance to innovations – Many government setups are accustomed to traditional way of working and are not open to new and innovative ideas. Thus it takes elaborate time and effort to bring new ideas into the system.

The challenges are great, there is no denying that, but so are the opportunities. With interest, involvement, and investment coming from both the private and public sector, there is cause for optimism despite the incredible amount of work that needs to be done.