Praja Foundation: E-Launch of Report on 'Status of Civic Issues in Mumbai' on 30th June, 2020
Only 1 in 4 public toilets were for women in 2018. There is currently 1 public toilet seat per 696 males and 1,769 females, while the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) prescribes 1 toilet for 100-400 males and 100-200 females respectively.
Results of an MCGM toilet survey in 2015 show only 28% of toilets were connected to the piped sewerage system, 78% had no proper information of water connection available, and 58% of the toilet blocks surveyed had no electricity.
MCGM claims 100% door-to-door collection of waste as on 2018-19. However, of the total 17,116 SWM complaints in 2019, 36% were related to garbage not being collected. While the MCGM citizens charter prescribes 1 day to solve issues of collection of garbage, it took 17 days on an average to solve complaints of garbage lifting, 20 days for collection point not attended and 22 days for garbage vehicle not arrived.
MCGMs water quality tests showed 1% unfit samples in 2018-19. However, there were a high number of water-borne diseases reported in the same period- 1,03,509 diarrhoea cases, 21 cholera cases and 4,280 cases of typhoid. Further, in 2019, 13% of 15,507 water complaints were related to contamination.
In 2019, councillor code was not filled in 78% of the total complaints, up from 76% in 2018.
In 2018-19, only 58% of the capital budget of water and sewerage department was spent, while SWM department spent only 23% of its capital budget.
In 2019, ward committee attendance of councillors was 73% as compared to 79% in 2018. 952 questions were raised in 2019 as compared to 1,046 in 2018, a 9% fall.
Mumbai, June 30: Praja Foundation launched its report on the ‘Status of Civic Issues in Mumbai’ on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. The report analyses the status of water, sanitation and SWM in Mumbai, benchmarked with existing policy targets and compared with data on citizens complaints to better understand ground realities of service provision.
While the entire world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) have gained immense importance in the prevention of the disease. It is however unfortunate, that provision of water supply, proper sanitation and Solid Waste Management (SWM), which are not just key determinants of health but also the most basic services provided to the public, are brought to importance only at the time of a crisis.
Although the MCGM launched a 24x7 water supply project in 2014, the top 4 wards (K/E, K/W, P/N and R/S) in complaints related to shortage of water supply in 2019 were also wards, which had average water timings of less than 5 hours per day. Of this, K/E, P/N and R/S have 49%, 54% and 58% of their population living in slums respectively, which bear a larger brunt of poor accessibility due to shared connections and lack of proper storage facilities, said Milind Mhaske, Director, Praja Foundation.
“In sanitation services as well, results of an MCGM toilet survey in 2015 highlight the grave inequity in facilities provided in public and community toilets. 58% of the toilet blocks surveyed had no electricity- a safety concern rendering the public toilet unusable at night, stated Nitai Mehta, Trustee, Praja Foundation.
Further, only 28% of toilets were connected to the piped sewerage system, worst being in M/E (3%), S (4%) and H/W (7%) wards, which have high proportion of slum population- 30%, 72% and 39% respectively.
In addition to water and sanitation, lack of proper SWM also contributes to poor hygiene and increases the incidences of diseases.
“While the SBM prescribes and MCGM claims 100% door-to-door collection of waste, citizens complaints show otherwise. Of the total 17,116 SWM complaints in 2019, 36% were related to garbage not being collected. Further, of the total SWM complaints, 41% were from 9 wards (F/N, P/N, P/S, R/N, R/S, M/W, N, L, and S) which have a slum population of more than 50%, added Mhaske.
“From the above examples, it is evident that the adverse impact of this inequity in basic service provision, is heavily borne by the lower economic sections of the city, residing in inadequate housing, such as slums. In the case of COVID-19 for example, precautions to maintain hygiene do not hold valid when adequate water and sanitation facilities are not available to all”, added Mehta.
“While numerous efforts are being made by various governments to manage the pandemic situation in the city, this firefighting could have been prevented if equitable services were provided in the first place. Policy and its implementation need to focus on three main aspects, when it comes to civic services- equity, sustainability and public involvement, concluded Mehta.
Equity in adequacy and accessibility can be ensured by providing basic services irrespective of the type of housing and in the long term ensuring adequate housing for all, which is currently a major determinant of quality of basic services. Along with improved infrastructure for equity in basic service provision, sustainability aspects need to be considered for conservation and reuse of scarce resources. Finally, these two aspects can be enabled only if people are actively involved in decision-making and implementation of these services through a mechanism of localised community management of resources.
Only 1 in 4 public toilets were for women in 2018. There is currently 1 public toilet seat per 696 males and 1,769 females, while the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) prescribes 1 toilet for 100-400 males and 100-200 females respectively.
Results of an MCGM toilet survey in 2015 show only 28% of toilets were connected to the piped sewerage system, 78% had no proper information of water connection available, and 58% of the toilet blocks surveyed had no electricity.
MCGM claims 100% door-to-door collection of waste as on 2018-19. However, of the total 17,116 SWM complaints in 2019, 36% were related to garbage not being collected. While the MCGM citizens charter prescribes 1 day to solve issues of collection of garbage, it took 17 days on an average to solve complaints of garbage lifting, 20 days for collection point not attended and 22 days for garbage vehicle not arrived.
MCGMs water quality tests showed 1% unfit samples in 2018-19. However, there were a high number of water-borne diseases reported in the same period- 1,03,509 diarrhoea cases, 21 cholera cases and 4,280 cases of typhoid. Further, in 2019, 13% of 15,507 water complaints were related to contamination.
In 2019, councillor code was not filled in 78% of the total complaints, up from 76% in 2018.
In 2018-19, only 58% of the capital budget of water and sewerage department was spent, while SWM department spent only 23% of its capital budget.
In 2019, ward committee attendance of councillors was 73% as compared to 79% in 2018. 952 questions were raised in 2019 as compared to 1,046 in 2018, a 9% fall.
Mumbai, June 30: Praja Foundation launched its report on the ‘Status of Civic Issues in Mumbai’ on Tuesday, June 30, 2020. The report analyses the status of water, sanitation and SWM in Mumbai, benchmarked with existing policy targets and compared with data on citizens complaints to better understand ground realities of service provision.
While the entire world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) have gained immense importance in the prevention of the disease. It is however unfortunate, that provision of water supply, proper sanitation and Solid Waste Management (SWM), which are not just key determinants of health but also the most basic services provided to the public, are brought to importance only at the time of a crisis.
Although the MCGM launched a 24x7 water supply project in 2014, the top 4 wards (K/E, K/W, P/N and R/S) in complaints related to shortage of water supply in 2019 were also wards, which had average water timings of less than 5 hours per day. Of this, K/E, P/N and R/S have 49%, 54% and 58% of their population living in slums respectively, which bear a larger brunt of poor accessibility due to shared connections and lack of proper storage facilities, said Milind Mhaske, Director, Praja Foundation.
“In sanitation services as well, results of an MCGM toilet survey in 2015 highlight the grave inequity in facilities provided in public and community toilets. 58% of the toilet blocks surveyed had no electricity- a safety concern rendering the public toilet unusable at night, stated Nitai Mehta, Trustee, Praja Foundation.
Further, only 28% of toilets were connected to the piped sewerage system, worst being in M/E (3%), S (4%) and H/W (7%) wards, which have high proportion of slum population- 30%, 72% and 39% respectively.
In addition to water and sanitation, lack of proper SWM also contributes to poor hygiene and increases the incidences of diseases.
“While the SBM prescribes and MCGM claims 100% door-to-door collection of waste, citizens complaints show otherwise. Of the total 17,116 SWM complaints in 2019, 36% were related to garbage not being collected. Further, of the total SWM complaints, 41% were from 9 wards (F/N, P/N, P/S, R/N, R/S, M/W, N, L, and S) which have a slum population of more than 50%, added Mhaske.
“From the above examples, it is evident that the adverse impact of this inequity in basic service provision, is heavily borne by the lower economic sections of the city, residing in inadequate housing, such as slums. In the case of COVID-19 for example, precautions to maintain hygiene do not hold valid when adequate water and sanitation facilities are not available to all”, added Mehta.
“While numerous efforts are being made by various governments to manage the pandemic situation in the city, this firefighting could have been prevented if equitable services were provided in the first place. Policy and its implementation need to focus on three main aspects, when it comes to civic services- equity, sustainability and public involvement, concluded Mehta.
Equity in adequacy and accessibility can be ensured by providing basic services irrespective of the type of housing and in the long term ensuring adequate housing for all, which is currently a major determinant of quality of basic services. Along with improved infrastructure for equity in basic service provision, sustainability aspects need to be considered for conservation and reuse of scarce resources. Finally, these two aspects can be enabled only if people are actively involved in decision-making and implementation of these services through a mechanism of localised community management of resources.
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