Source - Asia and Pacific



Nepal: hygiene campaign sets up 100 booths in slum areas

04 Aug 09

To combat water-borne diseases rises in Kathmandu slums during the monsoon season the local NGO,Guthi, launched a safe water and hygiene campaign to make people aware about pure drinking water, hygienic food behaviour, personal hygiene and environmental sanitation.

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Bangladesh and West Bengal: nine million people affected by cyclone Aila

12 Jun 09

As of 10 June 2009, the death toll from Cyclone Aila according to the Bangladesh government was 190 and over 3.9 million people have been affected. Across the border in India “over 5.1 million people have been affected in 16 districts of West Bengal.

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Pakistan: diarrhoea and typhoid cost 1.8% of the GDP

12 Jun 09

Federal Minister for Environment Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi has said that Pakistan is paying heavy price of neglect in water and sanitation sector as the diseases – diarrhoea and typhoid - due to these two factors cost the national exchequer 1.8% of the GDP which is US$ 1.5 billion annually.

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India, Jharkand: women repair handpumps

12 Jun 09

“When these girls take to the street clutching their tool bags on back, people get the message: females are as efficient as males in all walk of the life,” a local social worker in Jamsol village said.

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Nepal: “illegal” water trading common practice in rural areas

19 May 09

Drinking water sources located on public lands are being purchased and sold illegally for millions of rupees after old sources have dried up.

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India, Kerala: government crack down on illegal sand mining

19 May 09

The Kerala State government is planning to amend legislation so that it can impose more severe punitive measures against illegal sand-miners. Indiscriminate river sand mining has resulted in a sharp fall in groundwater tables and acute drinking water shortages in several parts of Kerala.

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India: Supreme Court issues notices to address manual scavenging

12 May 09

The Supreme Court has sent notices to the Delhi government and to district magistrates in over 25 districts in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan about their failure to implement a central law against manual scavenging.

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Sri Lanka: water and sanitation critically needed for country’s war-affected

06 May 09

The end of Sri Lanka's long civil war has left nearly 290,000 internally displayed persons (IDPs) stranded in camps, who are in dire need of food, water, sanitation and medical attention. Christian Aid predicts an imminent disease outbreak if the problem of overcrowding and sanitation is not tackled.

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Pakistan, NWFP: Water Supply and Sanitation (WATSAN) Cell established

23 Apr 09

The Government of North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) has established a Water Supply and Sanitation (WATSAN) Cell in the Local Government and Rural Development Department, with UNICEF support.

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China: biggest ever water clean-up launched

02 Apr 09

The Chinese government has launched its biggest ever water clean-up project of more than 30 billion Chinese yuan (around 4.4 billion US dollars) over 12 years.

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