National Policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM)

National Policy on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM)

Subject: Environment

Context: Himachal submitted its action plan earlier this month to the Central Monitoring Committee (CMC), which is overseeing compliance to a set of merged National Green Tribunal orders to make sewage 100 per cent treated by March 2021.

Concept:

• It was issued by Ministry of Urban Development in 2017.
• It seeks to facilitate nationwide implementation of FSSM services in all ULBs and to set priorities, and direction for safe and sustainable sanitation in every household in India.

Features of the FSSM:

• It provides for state-level guidelines, framework, objectives, timelines and implementation plans to address septage management.
• Formulating strategy to initiate capacity-building for training on FSSM.
• A sanitation benchmark framework to be used by ULBs to develop a database and registry of certified onsite sanitation system and a reporting ecosystem.
• Ensure funding for FSSM projects and with promotion of public private partnerships (PPP).
• Achieving integrated citywide sanitation along with safe disposal.

Gaps and issues in urban sanitation:

1. Access: Due to households having financial issues and space crunch for constructing individual toilets, apart from some cultural and social barrier.
2. Septage collection and conveyance: Illegal Manual scavenging, No / Limited access to tanks, Inappropriate tank sizing & design, Lack of infrastructure, and a regulated schedule for cleaning, Lack of formal private players are issues in this.
3. Treatment and Disposal: lack of adequate centralized/ decentralized facilities and designated sites for sewage and for septage treatment and disposal is a major burden.
4. Poor Awareness: Faecal Sludge and septage management has been accorded low priority and there is poor awareness
5. Fragmented Institutional Roles and Responsibilities: Lack of an Integrated City-wide Approach: Faecal Sludge and septage management investments are currently planned in a piece-meal manner and do not take into account the full cycle of safe confinement, treatment and safe disposal
6. Limited Technology Choices: Technologies have been focussed and the disposal techniques are not environmentally friendly no cost-effective
7. Gender Sensitive Gap: The burden of poor sanitation (compounded by the lack of FSSM services) disproportionately affects women, especially the urban poor, because this falls along established fault-lines of malnutrition and family health caregiving. Ex- The Economic Survey Report (2016- 17) of the Finance Ministry indicates the adverse impact of lack of sustainable sanitation on health of women and impedes in cognitive development of girls and infants.