WASH News South Asia
News feed maintained by information specialists from IRC and partners.
India: infrastructure plan for extremist affected areas
14 Jul 10
India’s Planning Commission is drafting a US$ 2.8 billion (Rs 13,742-crore) integrated action plan for infrastructure development in 34 districts where Naxalite (Maoist) rebels are active. The 3-year plan envisages developing basic infrastructure like roads, power and drinking water in 34 districts in the states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. [...]
India, Karnataka: rural water supply gets boost with WB loan
14 Jul 10
The World Bank has approved financing of US$ 150 million (Rs. 810 crore) for the second phase of the Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (KRWSS) project to be implemented by the Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (KRWSSA) in 11 districts of north Karnataka. The KRWSS project, which is also called Jal Nirmal [...]
India, Mumbai: soon, water recycling a must for high-rises
06 Jul 10
Mumbaikars residing in high-rises will soon have to switch their water consumption patterns so that residents of smaller housing societies get their quota of the municipal water supply. The Law committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), on Tuesday [22 June 2010], unanimously approved by-laws that make recycling of grey water (wastewater) mandatory for all [...]
Nepal: famous comedians star in tele-serial on community-led total sanitation
06 Jul 10
The famous Nepali comic duo Madan Krishna Shrestha and Haribansha Acharya aka Maha Jodi are starring in ‘Sugandhapur’, a tele-serial with a message motivating people not to defecate in the open. The premiere show of the tele-film was organised at the Russian Cultural Centre, Kamalpokhari on 30 June 2010. Jointly produced by Mahasanchar and Plan [...]
Bangladesh: children smash handwashing world record
06 Jul 10
Washing hands may not seem worthy of a certificate, but for thousands of children in Bangladesh the simple practice has got them into the Guinness Book of World Records. On Global Handwashing Day last October [2009], Plan Bangladesh and its partners organised an event where 52,970 school children gathered at multiple locations across the country [...]
India, Pune: train turns into public toilet at railway station
01 Jul 10
Vendors and beggars living near Pune station are using the toilets on a waiting express train rather the pay-per-use public toilets. The agency responsible for keeping the tracks clean says there isn’t enough time or water to remove the mess on time. Railway passengers are complaining about the stink. As soon as the Pune-Mumbai-Sinhagad Express [...]
India: drought forces talk of user fees, rainwater harvesting
25 Jun 10
A record heat wave and growing water crisis in India are forcing politicians to consider implementing user fees and other measures to conserve water. [R]ecord high temperatures in several areas have been blamed for dozens of deaths across the country. Drying rivers are causing regional water shortages. And in Nagpur, an urban area of 2.4 [...]
India: revision of unit cost of toilets for schools and kindergartens under Total Sanitation Campaign
25 Jun 10
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the increase in the revision of unit cost of a school toilet unit being constructed under the government’s Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) from existing Rs.20,000 [US$ 431] to Rs.35,000 [US$ 754] (Rs. 38,500 [US$ 829] for difficult and hilly areas). The CCEA has also approved the [...]
India: new sanitation award creates healthy competition among cities
21 Jun 10
A survey commissioned by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) found that no city to be “healthy and clean” while 40 per cent “need immediate remedial action”. The survey covered all 423 Class-I cities (with a population of more than 100,000), representing 72 per cent of India’s urban population. Only four cities are found to [...]
Bangladesh: 77m poisoned by arsenic in drinking water
19 Jun 10
Up to 77 million people in Bangladesh have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from drinking water in recent decades, according to a Lancet study [1]. The research assessed nearly 12,000 people in a district of the capital Dhaka for over a period of 10 years. More than 20% [407] of deaths among those [...]
