6 Ways to Bridge the Urban-Rural Divide in Sanitation.docx

6 Ways to Bridge the Urban-Rural Divide in Sanitation
sanitation in india, sanitation and cleanliness in india, hygiene and sanitation
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How to Bridge the Urban-Rural Divide in Sanitation?
Sanitation in India has been a great challenge and a lot of strategies have been used to
overcome it. While only 19 percent of city dwellers do not have access to adequate toilets, a
staggering 50% of rural residents do. The goal of Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 is to
ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all people in
Asia and the Pacific. In less than a quarter-century, the region's safe water supply coverage
has risen to an astonishing 92 percent. However, improvement in hygiene and sanitation has
been slower: in 2015, just 65 percent of Asia's 4.3 billion inhabitants had access to improved
sanitation and hygiene facilities. Despite this, there are a lot of variances in these data. In
most sub-regions of Asia and the Pacific, 70 percent to 80 percent of the population uses safe
sanitation, but fewer than half of the population in South and South-West Asia does. That is
why Swachh Bharat Mission came into action to resolve the problem of sanitation and
cleanliness in India and make it a better place in this aspect.
The differences between urban and rural locations are particularly striking: although just 19
percent of city dwellers lack access to adequate toilets, a staggering 50% of rural residents
do. While wealth is vital, a shift in thinking is also required, and here are six strategies for
bridging the urban-rural divide in sanitation and the water supply required.
1. Financial resources. By 2030, financial limitations could be alleviated, allowing everyone
to have access to equitable, clean, and cheap water and sanitation. To do this, we must shift
from a mostly aid-focused approach to one in which consumers and companies play a more
active role in financing. Governments could also better target poor-targeted aid, as well as
reward and streamline access to credit. International financial institutions and other partners
can complement and help these tasks by contributing to financing initiatives and sharing their
knowledge and experience in growing areas such as technology and climate change
adaptation.
2. A shift in sanitation attitudes. Over the years, many good approaches to changing
behaviour have emerged, such as empowering communities, accepting and addressing
different gender-based attitudes, and including children in the solution, but more efforts are
needed to sustain and accelerate the use of improved sanitation in rural areas. Context,
culture, and values, as well as other obstacles, must all be addressed concurrently to prevent
open defecation.
3. Encourage people to be willing to take risks. Attitudes around paying for water and
sanitation services must also change. Because informal and alternative delivery mechanisms
are more expensive, people are prepared to pay for better services, particularly in remote
locations. Surprisingly, increasing the desire to charge for water has emerged as a new
difficulty.
Politicians are generally afraid of losing votes if they do so. Unfortunately, giving better
services for free is not good politics, despite how contradictory it may seem. Why? Because a
free service gives consumers the impression of entitlement — without the responsibilities or

obligations that come with it. Because the government cannot afford to provide free service
in the long run, the result is an unsustainable service. Politicians are held responsible when
services are disrupted or terminated.
4. Make use of new technology. If new technologies are low-cost and locally relevant, we
should not be afraid to try them out. However, sanitation technology, particularly in youthful
and rapidly changing countries, should more systematically include circular economy
concepts, resource reduction, and recovery, and realise opportunities for digital and social
innovation. Advancements in this area include mobile phone applications for engineering
solutions such as flow monitoring or education and awareness dissemination, the Gates
Foundation's Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, and pre-paid water cards.