Scientific treatment of only 16% of septage in the city

Due to the lack of interest of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) , poor services by the private septic cleaning tankers and lack of awareness among the masses about the importance of the scientific treatment and disposal of septage, only 16 per cent of septage generated in the core city is treated scientifically according to a  report prepared by the Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP).

WSUP has revealed in its recent studies that there are several other reason for the poor disposal of septage such as illegal manual scavenging, limited access to septic tanks, open defecation, inappropriate tank sizing and design, lack of infrastructure, lack of formal private players, poor awareness, lack of an integrated city-wide approach and limited technology choices. City project manager for WSUP Uday Singh Gautam said to TOI, “A national policy on faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) was launched two weeks ago under the Swachh Bharat Mission to achieve an open defecation-free India by 2019. The policy will look into issues related to sanitation and solid waste management.”

As part of the policy, the GVMC will be entrusted with the task of cleaning septage from household septic tanks. The corporation will also prepare a detailed action plan with help from WSUP on scientific disposal of septage in the city and submit it in the next six months.

WSUP is a partnership between the private sector, NGOs and research institutions focused on solving the issue of inadequate water and sanitation across the globe. They transform cities to benefit the millions who lack access to water and sanitation. WSUP was set up in 2005 and is still successfully functioning. Based in the UK with offices in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia: Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zambia, from 2016-2020, they are planning to bring improved water & sanitation to 17 million people living in urban areas in Africa and Asia.

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