Pak to take India's help in sanitation technology
Pakistan is keen to borrow some sanitation technics from India and Bangladesh.
By Shantanu Nandan Sharma, TNN |
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is keen to borrow some sanitation technics from India and Bangladesh. Pakistan’s environment minister Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat told SundayET that the availability of cheaper toilets would go a long way in implementing the community-led total sanitation programme . Around 55 million Pakistanis do not have an access to improved sanitation.
“We have already prepared a draft national sanitation policy which is with the cabinet for approval. We would like to learn some lessons from India and Bangladesh which have progressed quite a lot in this field. India can help us getting the right technology to make cheaper toilets,” he said. Some innovative toilets in India and Bangladesh cost less than Rs 500.
However, sanitation scene in India is no better as well. Only 37% people in India have latrines within their households. Thanks to open defecation, 150,000 truckloads of human excreta find its way to soil and water every day resulting into diseases like diarrhoea, cholera etc. It results into an annual loss of 180 mandays and Rs 12 billion to the economy.
Development specialist Kamal Kar says: “It’s good that Pakistan shows a lot of interests in community-led sanitation . It will help curtailing the wastage of money in the form of subsidy. The politics of subsidy is a major problem both in India and Pakistan,” he said. Soma Ghosh Moulik from Water and Sanitation Program , South Asia explains, “AP spent $65 mn to build 2 mn toilets, but 50% of those were not used at all. It will take another 18 years for India to achieve total sanitation goals.”
“We have already prepared a draft national sanitation policy which is with the cabinet for approval. We would like to learn some lessons from India and Bangladesh which have progressed quite a lot in this field. India can help us getting the right technology to make cheaper toilets,” he said. Some innovative toilets in India and Bangladesh cost less than Rs 500.
However, sanitation scene in India is no better as well. Only 37% people in India have latrines within their households. Thanks to open defecation, 150,000 truckloads of human excreta find its way to soil and water every day resulting into diseases like diarrhoea, cholera etc. It results into an annual loss of 180 mandays and Rs 12 billion to the economy.
Development specialist Kamal Kar says: “It’s good that Pakistan shows a lot of interests in community-led sanitation . It will help curtailing the wastage of money in the form of subsidy. The politics of subsidy is a major problem both in India and Pakistan,” he said. Soma Ghosh Moulik from Water and Sanitation Program , South Asia explains, “AP spent $65 mn to build 2 mn toilets, but 50% of those were not used at all. It will take another 18 years for India to achieve total sanitation goals.”
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