Chennai, May 13, 2013: The death of two workers in a sewage tank in Chennai revives the call for the eradication of manual scavenging. By R. ILANGOVAN
THAT manual scavenging continues to be a national shame became evident once again when two Dalits died of asphyxiation while cleaning a sewage tank in a private hotel in Chennai in Tamil Nadu on April 20. Shekar (45) and Robert (47) were the latest casualties of the abhorrent system of workers entering drains to clear blocks manually.

Chennai, Mar 6, 2013: Passengers of Southern Railway will have to learn to cope with poor sanitation and pest nuisance. The railway budget promised luxury coaches, but failed to mention sanitation, pest and insect control measures. A majority of railway stations still do not have toilet and drinking water facilities, opine regular commuters and members of the rail passenger association.
The budget has failed to set aside funds for sanitation, accor­ding to D.

Chennai, Dec. 31, 2012: A 65-strong group of natives of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — all of them former manual scavengers — is on a nation-wide tour educating the masses on the need to do away with manual scavenging. The National Maila Mukti Yatra (National Dignity Campaign) plans to travel 10,000 km across 200 districts in 18 States.

Chennai, Dec. 15, 2012: Mahindra World School, located in Mahindra World City, recently received the National School Sanitation Award, 2012. The school was ranked amongst the top six schools of India, and was at the top position in Tamil Nadu. The award was instituted by the Central Board of Secondary Education in association with the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Ministry of Urban Development and Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (formerly known as GTZ).

Chennai, Sept. 21, 2012: The Greater Chennai area, home to tech parks and gated communities, uses more manual scavengers and animals to keep its toilets clean than any other part of the state.

The 2011 census shows that Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, including areas within the extended areas of Chennai Corporation, have the largest number of dry toilets in the state. These toilets "are serviced by humans and pigs".

Chennai, Aug 23, 2012: Schools in the country still have a long way to go with respect to ideal sanitation standards. Less than 1% of the 500 CBSE schools that took the school sanitation rating challenge posed by the board's National School Sanitation Initiative managed the green rating, indicating that only four institutions meet more than 90% of the norms that are prescribed.

Chennai, July 5, 2012: As part of Ezhilmighu Chennai project, the city corporation will provide 5,000 rest rooms and toilet facilities across the city of which 1,000 units will be mobile toilets to be placed in congested localities. Though the proposal was mooted in 2008, the project was shelved during the previous DMK regime.

Chennai, April 27, 2012: Perturbed by the fact that 73.3 per cent of rural households in the State are still resorting to open defecation, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has hiked the State's contribution to families willing to construct a toilet by Rs.1,500.

Making a suo motu statement in the Assembly on Thursday, Ms. Jayalalithaa said under the Total Sanitation Project, the Centre was granting Rs.2,200 and the State Rs.1,000, thereby limiting the beneficiary's contribution to Rs.300.

Chennai, April 23, 2012: An important scheme to improve the health and lifestyle of residents in rural pockets around Tambaram and also to improve access to proper sanitation is in disarray owing to neglect on the part of State government agencies.

Chennai, April 14, 2012: If the Integral Coach Factory has its algorithm right, there will very soon be no smelly toilets on trains. This innovation should make train travel a more pleasant affair. But the absence of smell is only the by-product. The new bio toilets developed by Railways design engineers will do away with manual scavenging on trains and add to the life span of the tracks. The new toilet will have a collection tank fitted with anaerobic bacteria to decompose faecal matter completely.