PREFACE
The essential elements of a neat and clean city are underground drainage,
adequate water supply, solid waste management, storm water drains, roads etc., which
go a long way in ensuring better built environment and health of human beings. Cities
without a proper drainage system face problems of inundation on roads, streets and
by-lanes during rainfall, and the resultant traffic snarls, pollution, insanitary conditions,
and spread of various water-borne diseases. The Report of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) titled “Safe Water, Better Health (2008)” states that about 7.5% of
deaths in India are due to water and sanitation related causes. It also highlights that
88% of the cases of diarrohea world-wide are attributed to unsafe water, inadequate
sanitation or improper hygiene.
The report of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008) has
emphasized that access to clean water and sanitation should be considered as part of
human rights. According to this Report, about one billion people in the world live in
slums without basic services. Considering the importance of sanitation in view of its
impact on human health, the provision of sanitation facilities for the increasing
population in India’s cities and towns is an issue which demands special and immediate
attention.
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and other
programmes aim at 100% sanitation coverage in the urban areas. The Eleventh Five
Year Plan (2007-12) targets to achieve universal sanitation coverage in the country by
2012. A closed drainage system in a city with proper maintenance will go a long way in
making it a “healthy” city. However, drainage, in itself, is not enough. What is more
important is that all the households should have connectivity, as it is one of the
important determinants of quality of life.
What is the scenario in India? How many households in cities and towns have
access to closed drainage system and how many have open or no connectivity? The
instant document provides data on these aspects.
The analysis carried out in the
document is based on the data of Census of India, 2001, which, inter alia, provides
statistics pertaining to distribution of households by availability of type of drainage
connectivity for wastewater outlet. The drainage connectivity has been classified into
three types, viz., ‘closed drainage’, ‘open drainage’ and ‘no drainage’. The census data
does not include institutional households.
This document is the outcome of painstaking work put in by
Shri J. Nagarajan,
Senior Social Scientist, assisted by S/Shri B.K. Bharti, P.P. Tuteja and T. Tete.
I hope that this document will be useful for policy-makers, administrators,
planners, researchers and academicians.
January 2009
New Delhi
(J.B. Kshirsagar)
Chief Planner
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