Assessment of fssm for Guwahati city

Abstract

The safe collection, treatment, disposal and reuse of domestic waste water and human fecal waste remains a substantial problem. In the absence of proper sanitation, many Indian cities are on the verge of drowning in their own sewage. According to a Central Pollution Control Board report, less than 50% of the urban sewerage systems work effectively in India. Sewage has clearly been identified as the leading polluter of water sources in India, causing a host of diseases including diarrhea (which kills 350,000 children each year), agricultural contamination and environmental degradation. There are two broad methodologies for sewage management, which are the network-based sewerage system and non-network based (FSSM). Although a sewerage system has its own advantages in the context of management, resources and finance but in the absence of a sewerage system, fecal sludge and septage need to be safely managed. Safe fecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) includes safe containment of excreta in an onsite sanitation system, regularly emptying and transportation of fecal sludge and septage to a fecal sludge treatment plant (FSTP). Presently the Guwahati Metropolitan Area (GMA) does not have any integrated sewerage system except for certain pockets such as Railway colonies, I.O.C. Refinery and Defense establishment having their own independent system. There are generally septic tanks in Guwahati. The effluent is collected and transported by a desludging vehicle to the Boragaon dumping ground. There are also reports of untreated fecalsludge’s released into the nearby drains and lowlying areas. In this research project, detailed study has been conducted to assess the baseline sanitation situation of Guwahati city while outlining the current gaps for implementation of a safe FSSM in the Guwahati through site surveys and interactions & discussions with all relevant departments/ stakeholders. Comparative study has been done to check the advantages of FSSM practices against the network-based sewerage system with respect to the resources, management and finance of the Guwahati city. The analysis gives a brief idea of the process involved and the underlying rationales for the need of the FSSM assessment in Guwahati. Further the current Sanitation Service Chain in Guwahati is mapped with focus on each individual component of the chain. This includes an overview of containment, emptying, transportation, treatment and disposalpractices in the city along with health risk involved in each step.