International Training & Exposure Visit for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in Bangladesh

Date: February 08-13, 2020
Venue:BCDM Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in collaboration with WaterAid Bangladesh (WAB) organized an ‘International Training cum Exposure Visit for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in Bangladesh’from February 08-13, 2020 at Dhaka, Bangladesh. The training was a part of CSE’s initiative for capacity building of officials from state and city officials from Uttar Pradesh and National Mission for Clean Ganga. The event includes 2 days from training and an exposure visit to a Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant where organic solid waste and faecal sludge is co-treated to form an improved quality of compost.The overall objective was experience and knowledge sharing for mainstreaming of best practices in Faecal Sludge and Septage Management 

There were 35 participants from diverse background and regions including municipal officials and sanitation practitioners from India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Indian participants included officials from the Directorate of Local Bodies (DoUD), Executive Officers from Urban Local Bodies as well as Engineers from UP Jal Nigam& NMCG. The participants from Bangladesh and Nepal also had a mix of technical and non-technical officials including people from the relevant Ministries. 

The training introduced the participants to a range of tools and concepts including SFDs, Citywide Inclusive Sanitation, best management practices in Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM), Planning and Designing for Treatment of FSS as well as dedicated sessions on co-composting of faecal sludge and organic solid waste. 

The training was inaugurated with an introduction to training by Dr Muyeed, WAB&Rahul Mankotia, CSE and welcome address by Ms HasinJahan Country Director, WAB. 

The training started with a session on Shift Flow Diagram (SFD) tool by BhitushLuthra, CSE.The session sensitized the participant on the use of tool for visualizing excreta management in a citywhich can be used as an advocacy tool as well as a planning tool. This was followed by a session on Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) by Rahul Mankotia, CSE. The session introduced the participant on the principles of CWIS along with various case studies. A session on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management was taken by BhitushLuthra, CSE which introduced the participants with the principles as well as issues and challenges in the subject.The participants were also sensitized on the best practices across the FSSM value chain as well as regulations and enabling environment for an effective FSSM. There was also a role play exercise on city-level planning for effective city wide sanitation.

On the second day, the training deep-dived into the technical aspects of FSSM with sessions related to characterization of faecal sludge and septage and as well as principles for treatment of faecal sludge and septage.Dr Abdullah Al-Muyeed (WAB) took a session onplanning and implementing of co-composting of faecal sludge and organic solid waste in Bangladesh with the applicable business models for FSSM through the focus on reuse.

On the third day, a field visit was done for Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) in Sakhipur where co-composting of faecal sludge and organic solid waste is undertaken. This is a model plant with potential for replication in India where treatment of faecal sludge and organic municipal solid waste is a big issue. The final compost produced by the facility is marketed and reused through dedicated efforts of the Bangladesh government. The government efforts including setting-up of farmer’s school (an initiative of Department of Agriculture, Bangladesh for linkage with the market) where the local farmers are educated about the compost from the Sakhipur plant and advised about its usage. On such farmer’s school was visited during the visit to Sakhipur with interaction with farmers and a visit to the farms where the compost is being used.

The field visit concluded with an interaction with the Mayor of Sakhipur who shared his experience in implementation of the project as well as the impact it has made to the city. This exposure visit has provided better insights to participants on effective FSSM with the focus on reuse, creating market linkage and economic benefits to the society

The training ended with an experience sharing, certificate distributionand feedback session on how the learnings can be taken forward and other suggestions. 

List of Indian Participants

Name	Designation	Organisation
Mr. Saumyasib Mukhopadhyay	Senior Environmental Specialist	National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Delhi
Mr Vijay Kumar Yadav	Assistant Civil Engineer	National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Delhi
Mr Shiv Pujan Yadav	Ad. Municipal Commissioner	Directorate Urban Local Bodies, Lucknow
Mr Durgeshwar Tripathi	Executive Officer	Bijnor Nagar Palika Parishad
Mr. Mohit Vikram Singh	Assistant Engineer	UP Jal Nigam Bijnor
Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey	Project Manager	UP Jal Nigam Prayagraj
Mr. Sudhanshu Kumar	Project Engineer	UP Jal Nigam Lucknow
Mr. Afzal Ali Khan	Project Manager	UP Jal Nigam Prayagraj / Chunar