From S. Janakarajan, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) Chennai

Posted 5 June 2007

I work with the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) in Chennai.

In recent years, there is a growing emphasis on promoting Ecological Sanitation (ecosan) due to a number of factors:

1. Wider realisation that modern sewage-based sanitation uses up a tremendous amount of drinking water quality water for flushing, and requires large costly plants for treatment.
2. Mixing of faeces and urine makes treatment difficult, as both these need different treatments.
3. Wastage of urine and faeces, which could be a rich source of fertiliser. Proper management of these will reduce treatment as well as fertilizer costs.
   

“Understanding the Urban Poor's Vulnerabilities in Sanitation and Water Supply ", is an article written by Barbara Evans published in July 1-6, 2007 by of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development. This paper argues that one of the root causes of this exclusion has been the long-standing inability of utility and city managers and their advisers to plan and implement water and sanitation systems which respond to the reality of the lives of the urban poor.

“Ecological Sanitation: Alternate systems to save water and reuse resources” has been written Sumita Ganguly and P Amudha in India Infrastructure Report, published in 2007 by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The case study presents about the two NGOs, SCOPE and MYRADA supported by UNICEF have brought ecological sanitation as a concept among rural families in Tiruchirapalli and Erode districts in Tamil Nadu through a process of discussion with Gram Panchayats and families.

The case study titled “Rural Sanitary Marts: Developing a sustainable alternate delivery mechanism for sanitation in West Bengal” has been written Alok Kumar and Sumita Ganguly in India Infrastructure Report, published in 2007 by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). It presents that the Rural Sanitary Mart (RSM) typically rural production centres and retail outlets that manufacture and market low-cost hardware and provide services was rapidly expanded and becomes sustainable over a period of time in West Bengal.

“Manual on the Right to Water and Sanitation”, developed by Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and UN-Habitat, is a tool to develop strategies for implementing the human right to water and sanitation, and will assist national and regional governments, local authorities and practitioners in their capacity as policy makers, budget-allocators, regulators and providers, to improve access of marginalised and disadvantaged communities to water and sanitation. It will also be of interest to civil society organisations that operate water and sanitation services, monitor government performance or engage in policy advocacy, international development agencies and private sector organisations dealing in water and sanitation.
The manual contains practical, affordable and sustainable strategies, policies and solutions to address the problems in realising the right to water and sanitation, and distinguishes between the challenges facing urban and rural areas, and proposes policy approaches for each that address their different circumstances.

"Training of Trainers' Manual on Community-driven Total Sanitation", is a training manual, published by Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) in October 2007, based on a training curriculum developed by Dr. Kamal Kar, initiator of community-led total sanitation in rural areas. This curriculum has been developed through extensive field testing and both the curriculum and guidance notes have been refined based on a series of policy discussions, workshops and interactions with national, state and local governments and expert practitioners in South Asia. The manual, consists of two volumes and is aimed at resource agencies engaged in training potential master trainers to facilitate and scale up community-driven total sanitation. It contains three interlinked modules: Guidance Notes, Trainers Notes and Reference Materials (on CD).