CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

SANITATION AND ENVIRONMENT

-1S.J. SHIVA DHARSHA

The air quality index to the dangerous level frequently, contamination of water in
reality of today tables of proceeding is dominantly high oceans rising, industries plastic waste
is clogging the entire ecosystem and landfills are becoming a part of the Skyline of our
country. Frequent floods, drought, abrupt weather cycle, crop pattern changes are major
problems in our country now. But sustainability and development need to go hand in hand.
The waste we generate if not properly managed then it will be a burden to the environment. 
Our Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi was considered for public and private sanitation
which was also a part of his Satyagraha campaign. “Everyone is his own scavenger” said
Gandhiji, reiterating   the facts that cleanliness is a personal responsibility. If the waste we
generate is not properly managed it will be a burden to our environment. Inadequate
sanitation process is the serious issues for economic growth of the country Manifesting itself
in the form of poor health, losses in education, overall productivity and wellbeing and health
of the people. “Kayakalp” is a scheme with the goal of enlightening the infrastructure,
sanitation and infection control practices in environment all over the country. Today the
concept of sanitation Come to embody the spirit of life in the Living Environment.”
Sanitation in a community is more important than independence. Sanitation is a common
spiritual effort in a community like ours and it is a basic human right” said Gandhiji.
Therefore, development, sanitation and environment are interwoven subject and shall not be
viewed in isolation.

1
V year B.A.L.L.B(hons),
school of law, VISTAS,
Vels university, pallavaram , Chennai
Contact no:9489128449
Email id: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION:

Environmental sanitation encompasses the control of environmental elements

that are associated to transmissions. Lack of sanitation in environment denotes to the absence
of sanitation relating to health. Environmental Sanitation is,
 the preferment of hygiene and
 the anticipation of disease and
 other consequences of ill-health, concerning environmental factors.
There are different environmental factors which effect on the infectious agents and
transmission of disease. These include,

 Disposal of human excreta

 Wastes from House and waste likely to contain infectious agents
 Water drainage
 Sewage
 Housing

 Domestic water supply

The waste we generate if not properly managed then it will be a burden to the environment.
Our Father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi was considered for public and private sanitation
which was also a part of his Satyagraha campaign. “Everyone is his own scavenger” said
Gandhiji, reiterating   the facts that cleanliness is a personal responsibility. Inadequate
sanitation process is the serious issues for economic growth of the country. Sanitation in a
community is more important than independence. Therefore, development, sanitation and
environment are interwoven subject and shall not be viewed in isolation.

DEVELOPMENT OF SANITATION: 

Open defecation has been practiced right from the beginning of civilisation by
all of the people. People use agricultural fields, wastelands, banks of lakes (or) rivers b,
forestlands and open waste places to defecate. Due to improper sanitation facilities practised
by the communities and individuals have greatly affected them with diseases like cholera,
polio, malaria etc. Defecation places are frequently far from human settlements. While seeing
about the time travel of the sanitation and its development in the civilised society has now
resulted in the proper adequate sanitation process. “Millennium Development Goals” relating
to sanitation are,

 Clean drinking water supply and appropriate waste management

 open defecation free villages 
 Better toilet facility with separate toilet units for girls and boys 
 Enhanced toilet facility at individual house hold levels 
 awareness on personal hygiene and food sanitation and nutrition
 clean environment and proper sanitation of the surroundings
 awareness about Clean environment and personal hygiene and sanitation practices
will lead to good health of the individuals.
 Proper solid management
 Proper liquid waste management

“KAYAKALP” FOCUS ON SANITATION:

Sanitation is a common spiritual effort in a community like ours and it is a basic human
right” said Gandhiji

Swachh Bharat Mission is a National Initiative launched by Honourable Prime

Minister on 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October 2014. “Kayakalp”
was launched by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to
encourage cleanliness and improve the quality of healthcare facilities in India. It’s a multi-
pronged strategy and launched many initiatives for improving hygiene and sanitation
holistically since 2015 it as particularly made sanitation centre piece of its effort to improve
the health and well-being of the citizens. Kayakalp initiative of Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare began in 2015. with the aim of improving infrastructure, upkeep, hygiene and
sanitation and infection control practices in Central government institution and public health
facilities in all the states and union territories. For ensuring the objective assessment of
“swachhata” at the public health facilities, assessment is done under 7 thematic areas.
Training provided for not only undertaking the assessment but also for implementation of
correct protocols and practices. Kayakalp Made the modest beginning in its first year with
assessing only the district hospitals. Subsequently within a span of 3 years all the Sub District
hospitals, Community Health centres and Primary Health Centre has also been brought
under its Ambit.  the different parameters on which the performance of the facility would be
assessed are
 Hospital/Facility Upkeep  
 Sanitation
 Hygiene  
 solid and liquid Waste Management without harming the environment
 Infection Control  
 Support Services for the fund and other helps necessary
Therefore, this scheme provides a clear monitoring of proper management of the waste from
the hospitals and health centres into the environment and sanitation at all levels of people.

SUSTAINABLE SANITATION IN CITIES:

Voicing about the urban sanitation in India the census of 2011 says that 12.6
percentage of households in urban India by practising open defecation. while this was
definitely lower than the extent of open defecation of 68% in rural India, it was nonetheless
adversely impacting in the health of urban citizens and overall environment. Moreover, with
only 38% coverage of septic tanks and less than 33 % coverage of sewage network in the
country more than 70% of the discharge from the toilet be it from household or from
community/ public toilets had being disposed of in an unsafe manner. A bigger cause of
worry was that 75 percentage of freshwater resources used for drinking purpose was
contaminated with sewage contributing to 60 percentage of total population load says the
CPCB report of 2009. There is noteworthy evidence that globally better sanitation, hygiene
and cleanliness help in effective control of numerous vectors borne diseases, parasite
infection and nutritional diseases. As per a UNICEF report of 2011 almost 90% age of child
death from diarrhoeal diseases are directly linked to contaminated water and lack of
sanitation or inadequate hygiene. chapter India. Ministry of housing and urban affairs has
been implementing various missions of the government of India like 
 Swachh barath mission
 AMRUT
 SMART CITIES MISSION
 NERUDP
All of which addresses the issue of urban sanitation. sanitation initiatives of government have
achieved success with more than 99 % of it cities and 35 state or union territories having
become open defecation free. Ministry housing and urban affairs also partnered with Google
to upload and make available on Google map all the public and community toilet in the cities
so that it citizens in the cities and visitors are available to easily locate these facilities in their
vicinity. till date 58,000 public toilets across 2,500 cities are visible on Google Maps. toilet
official. The next level of challenge faecal was while toilet bad now functional and being
used to that open defecation and open urination were curved what happening with facial
sledge Being discharge from the toilet how would it be managed safely so that they do not
pollute the environment, that most of the faecal sludge was ending up as open discharge in
fields and water body is meant that it was posing even greater danger to the environment
compared to open defecation. As on date there are 739 cities previously certified ODF+ and
292 Cities certified ODF++ has been made in faecal sludge management, sewerage and
septage management.
During the construction of toilets in cities, we should keep the following points in the mind.
The toilet model should,
• it should not contaminate nearby drinking water sources.
• should not easily accessible to flies, animals etc.
• should not pollute environment at any aspects.
• try to construct it using locally available resources.
• should be in a closed system.
• should not adversely affect economic status of community.
• Resist the natural conditions like heat, rain and to considerable extent should resist
disasters too so that the chance of contamination of water level will reduce.
• A distance of 10-15 meters should be maintained mandatorily between drinking
water source and toilet pit.

SUSTAINABLE SANITATION AND WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT:

Water, sanitation and waste management are significant forces for

community well-being and health in India. A hygienic environment with open defecation free
areas and also personal hygiene practices among the individuals, correct solid and liquid and
other waste management and availability of adequate safe drinking water determines health
of community as well as individuals. Life in this world is diverse and unique but what we all
have in common is that we live and breathe on the same world together. Our collective action
that would impact our shared environment. which has shown to contribute towards negative
outcomes touches increasing frequency of Climate Change related weather patterns and lower
quality of environmental health. At present approximately one third of the country is either
drought prone or under desert areas. This has increased the vulnerability of communities
dependent on agriculture and demand on the local water sources leading to resource
mismanagement. Sustainable sanitation systems are those that curtail depletion of the
resource base, protect and encourage human health, minimize environmental degradation, are
technically and institutionally appropriate, socially acceptable and economically viable in the
lengthy term. Poor waste management is one of the significant contributors to environmental
degradation and hence to the occurrence of diseases. Households generate an enormous
quantity of waste daily ranging from effluents, solid wastes to sewage. The same is factual of
commercial and industrial activities where a considerable quantity of wastes are produced.
Till wastewater and excreta is allowed to enter the environment untreated then diseases will
spread and ecosystems will be degraded. Untreated wastewater and farmland run-off
frequently hold large amounts of plant nutrients. At the time they reach rivers, lakes and
coastal waters in high concentrations they can drastically alter how ecosystems function,
boosting the growth of aquatic plants, changing the composition of the flora and fauna, and
starving organisms in the water below – including fish – of oxygen. It can also end up with
blooms of toxic algae that can make shellfish and freshwater dangerous to humans.
development and human rights issues that can be addressed through sustainable sanitation
and wastewater management: 

 DISASTER RESILIENCE: sustainable sanitation structures can contribute keeping

wastewater safely contained during floods and other natural disasters reducing health
risks.

 EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: cholera, diarrhoea, other sickness spread by

untreated wastewater can result in irregular in schools, and reduce the cognitive and
intellectual ability of children due to under-nutrition. sanitation facilities especially
with provision for menstrual health management at schools can remove important
obstacles to education for adolescent girls. 
  PERSONAL SAFETY: girls and women have risk violence and also other types of
harms when they have to walk a long way for open defecation or for accessing any
sanitation facility. Therefore, having close access to sanitation facility can improve
personal safety. 

 DISASTERS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION:

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

Disasters are largely due to natural and manmade causes. It can cause serious
health hazards to individuals as well as to community members. During a disaster the climate
and weather condition in the area change and that may directly or indirectly affect the water
and sanitation situation and as a consequence may lead to the growth of harmful microbes.
There are some of the natural disaster which has the greatest impact in the environmental
sanitation and mismanagement of the wastes are

DROUGHT: - it is one of the natural calamities which has direct and indirect effects to water.
Drought in a particular area may lead to the growth of dreadful bacteria and viruses in the
drinking water sources and owing to the scarcity of the drinking water availability those
people in that area end up with drinking the water contaminated by microbes and get affected
by water borne diseases. 

STORMS AND CYCLONES: Storms followed by heavy rainfall; cyclones cause serious
health problems. Storms normally affect human habitations, housing structures and
contamination the drinking water sources including open well, pond, and stream and so on.

TSUNAMI: Water contamination is one of the predominant health problems occurs after a
Tsunami, which results in waterborne diseases and water logging results in vector borne
diseases. We have experienced this after the tsunami that occurred in the Tamilnadu coast in
2004.
FLOODS: - Floods are the result and consequences of heavy rainfall and other things such as
water mismanagement in the dam and increase in sea level resulting in public health threats.
After the floods, drinking water usually gets contaminated with Faecal matter and the
leftovers of dead animals which in turn results in waterborne diseases.

CONCLUSION:

  Environment is at the brim. it is our collective responsibility to work together for

providing brighter future for the coming generation  Lifestyle that is self-sustaining ,
resources that are adequate for all ,development that is not compromising our
ecosystem ,flora and fauna and wildlife that are safe hands and the land water and air that are
fit for humans and other forms of life. Not only have hygiene habits lead to overall positive
health outcomes but also the clean practise phone and 17 will impact a great change in
environment and health of the public. Today the concept of sanitation and environment is one
of the ultimate empowerment tools over country. progress in urban sanitation has already
started impacting our life and the larger environment positively. Our continuous effort in
sustained Manner would lead to great positive enlighten the environment which would result
in the health and sustainability of the human and animals and all other living creatures.