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The event marked the release of CSE’s annual State of India’s Environment report by eminent jurist and former Supreme Court Justice Madan B Lokur and CSE Director General Sunita Narain. The conclave saw the participation of over 80 journalists from across India. The event saw numerous in-depth sessions on a wide range of topics ranging from climate change, agriculture, air pollution and mobility, sanitation and waste management, human-wildlife conflict and environmental governance. The sessions were chaired and conducted by eminent experts from the respective fields like K J Ramesh, Director General, Indian Meteorology Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India; Bhure Lal, Chairperson of the Chairperson, Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA); Gufran Baig, Director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune; Ajay Deshpande, former expert member of the National Green Tribunal; Bharti Chaturvedi, Director, Chintan; and Yadavendra V Jhala, Head of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology Department at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

Megha Sen, Programme Officer represented the Foundation at the event on 12th February as a speaker on the session ‘Sanitation & Our Rivers: Tale of the Toilet-A Half Story’. The session brought together researchers who had examined the sanitation scenario of India very closely. India has inched very near to the coveted status of an ODF nation as thousands of toilets have been built and access to sanitation increased exponentially. The question still lies on whether we are seeing the complete picture and what does it mean to be truly ODF?

The session was anchored by Sudhir Mishra, Resident Editor, Nav Bharat Times, Lucknow & Raju Nayak, Editor, Lokmat, Goa. The speakers in the session were Suresh Rohilla, Senior Programme Director, Water and Wastewater Management, CSE; Sushmita Sengupta, Programme Manager, Rural Water and Sanitation Unit, CSE – Overview; Nazar Khalid, Research Fellow, Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE), Gurugram; Avani Kapur, Director, Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi and Megha Sen, Programme Officer, CLTS Foundation Global, Kolkata.

Release of the report ‘Managing Septage in Cities of Uttar Pradesh’ at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue, CSE 2019

Suresh Rohilla had a very interesting presentation on the analysis of the assessment report of the excreta management in 66 cities across Uttar Pradesh. Alarming statistics were revealed where across the state of Uttar Pradesh, 73% of the wastewater is untreated and 80% of the sewage connection is concentrated only in 7 cities of Uttar Pradesh. The on-site challenges of managing solid waste remain largely unaddressed at the policy level and these issues were brought out and discussed. The session also saw the release of the report named Managing Septage in the cities of Uttar Pradesh.

Sushmita Sengupta, Programme Manager, Rural Water and Sanitation Unit, CSE – Overview, presenting at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue, CSE 2019

Sushmita Sengupta, raised the question of the very real challenge of whether the toilets that are being built as per the statistical data are in fact viable for the purpose at all or not? Nazhar Khalid gave an in-depth analysis of the RICE research undertaken across 11 districts of 4 states of India on the factors of caste and religion playing a major role in shaping the sanitation scenario. Avani Kapur brought the session’s focus on the basics of why sanitation needs to be given the importance that it demands and its widespread linkages with other aspects of human development – health, livelihood, dignity, women empowerment and so on.

Megha Sen focussed on Behaviour Change and its effects on Swachh Bharat Mission: Stories from India. It highlighted the power of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) to unleash the hidden potentials and capabilities of local communities to solve their own problems and take charge of their lives through collective behaviour change. It focussed on the achievements of CLTS as an approach in fast-tracking Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kalyani towards achieving the ODF status through anecdotes from the Foundation’s extensive involvement in these states.

Megha Sen, Programme Officer, CLTS Foundation Global presenting at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue, CSE 2019

Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are amongst the first five states to have achieved ODF status under Swachh Bharat Mission. Kalyani, a census town in West Bengal, is the first ODF town through Urban CLTS approach. The major drivers of a successful CLTS implementation in these areas were political and bureaucratic commitment and their belief in the power of communities to achieve collective behaviour change. It brought to light such stories from the field and emphasises the need of the hour for a radical change in top-down development strategies. The presentation was concluded with the expectation that the Swachh Bharat Mission would now focus on addressing the issue of sustained behaviour change for long-term health outcomes and promote the communities to move along the sanitation ladder.

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Read the full interview here

https://www.wereldwaternet.nl/en/latest-news/2019/february/interview-with-dr-kamal-kar-winner-of-the-sarphati-sanitation-life-time-achievement-award-2015/

The post Interview with Dr Kamal Kar, winner of the Sarphati Sanitation Life Time Achievement Award 2015 appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

CLTS Foundation Global, as a part of its collaborative efforts with Government of Haryana and World Bank India is organising a five-day CLTS training workshop in Nuh district of Haryana from 13 to 17 February 2017.

It is the third in the series of trainings that CLTS Foundation Global has organized in Haryana as part of the institutional capacity building for SBM (G) to boost efforts of elimination of open defecation in the state. 70 participants have participated from 5 districts of Haryana namely, Nuh, Rohtak, Mohendragarh, Jind, and Sonipat. These districts have made the least progress in sanitation by the Government of Haryana.

The participants are from varied background and is an ideal mix of government officials, district coordinators, block coordinators, stakeholders from the community such as Imam (religious leader), sarpanch (village chief), members of local non-profit organisations.

The objectives of the workshop are:

1. To gain clear understanding and knowledge of the principles, rationale, methodology, applicability and limitations of CLTS, ODF, and its sustainability requirements.
2. To understand all four stages of the CLTS process e.g. pre-triggering, triggering, post triggering follow-up and post ODF activities including monitoring and verification of ODF.
3. To gain skills in CLTS triggering for collective behaviour change to achieve sustained ODF status instead of focusing on mere latrine construction with no tangible health outcomes.
4. To understand the importance of engaging a diverse set of stakeholders, Natural Leaders, and Community Consultants to scale up CLTS.
5. To understand the importance of Enabling environment and the right policy framework for CLTS implementation.
6. To understand the uniqueness of sanitation challenges in Haryana, and suitability of CLTS method for genuine and sustainable outcomes.

Dr. Kamal Kar on the dias speaking to fellow panelists.

The workshop was inaugurated by the D.C. of Nuh district, Mr. Maniram Sharma. In his welcome speech, he has mentioned about the sanitation challenges that the district is facing but also appreciated the sincere efforts of various people engaged in improving the sanitation situation. He shared how he was triggered during the orientation workshop by Dr. Kar in July 2016 and decided to introduce CLTS approach and orient his own staff.

On the inauguration day, various religious leaders (Imams) from the community were also present. Nuh district has a majority of Muslim population. 10 Imams assured that by this Friday, 17 February 2017 they will stop open defecation in their respective villages and will invite the other participants to visit their community.

On the first and second day of the training, the participants learnt about the CLTS principles, tools and techniques. The participants acquired knowledge and skills about facilitation through the introduction of each tool and its appropriate usage. It was emphasized during the training that they are not supposed to lecture or use force while introducing CLTS approach in the community. Instead, they should empower and encourage the community to take responsibility and to collective action. On 15 and 16 February 2017, the participants will be visiting villages for triggering.

Haryana has been in the rush to declare the state open defecation free (ODF) by March 2017 and there has been immense pressure on the districts to declare ODF. CLTS Foundation Global is trying to ensure that the participants in the training understand the proper meaning of CLTS approach and do not compromise on the principles. They should directly facilitate and trigger CLTS with the local communities and provide post-triggering follow up. However, it remains a big challenge.

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