Following the launch of the National Urban Sanitation Policy (NUSP, 2008), a number of initiatives were taken: states formulated their State Sanitation Strategies, and more than 150 cities drafted or are in the process of drafting the City Sanitation Plans (CSPs, by March 2014). The NUSP recommended development of special strategies for slums and poor settlements as an integral part of the CSPs. But the significant presence of slums in Indian cities (estimated between 9 and 14 million, or 12 to 16 percent of India's 79 million urban households), and the specific difficulties that these settlements face in accessing basic sanitation (and other) services, demanded a greater understanding of the conditions, and exploration of strategies used to address these. Section one presents a short introduction to the context of urban India and urban sanitation, followed by a brief review of programmatic responses by GoI to improve slum sanitation services. Thereafter, the guide draws out the critical factors or drivers using examples from successful community slum sanitation initiatives reported from the urban centers selected for this study. A set of generic activity clusters and steps are included at the end the preparatory, planning, implementation, and M&E stages of community sanitation initiatives.
- Many slum sanitation initiatives have been sub-optimal since communities were not involved or even consulted in the design of the process or structure.
- Investments in water and sanitation result in huge preventive health benefits, and the importance of these benefits is far more pronounced in case of slums where provision and service levels are poor.
- Given the legal framework, the political and executive leadership of the city, extent to which the leadership of the ULB and other agencies is engaged with questions of slum services provision, and institutional capacities and incentives for the ULB to do so, form the second major driver of successful initiatives.
- Starting from the availability of open spaces in slums, structure, access to safe disposal, and design features that attract users, involve a host of legal and practical considerations.
- Procurement and contracting must be studied early on in the project cycle and remedial action taken, as they can pose considerable challenges in contracting and implementation.
- It is critical that community groups are organized, trained and provided support and incentives so that they can manage the technical, institutional and financial tasks for maintenance.
- Management models and financial viability as key elements for successful long-term operation: While the formal organization and setting up of the CBO is an important milestone, the rules and arrangements for managing CTBs sustainably need also to be carefully designed.
- Long-term benefits from improved sanitation can only be sustained if households continue to use their individual toilets or CTBs are properly maintained and managed.
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- Copyright 2016 World Bank Group.