Second City Sanitation Task Force (CSTF) meeting at Katihar Municipal Corporation, Bihar was conducted on 10 May to 12 May 2017

The aim of the meeting was to discuss and way forward on implementation of pilot projects for faecal sludge and waste water treatment.

There were a total of 60 members who attended the meeting including:

Key highlights of the meeting are as follows:

The members were sensitized about role of CSE in City Sanitation Plan of the city
Shit Flow Diagram was presented for situation assessment and identification of major gaps
Current FSM service chain and its situation was discussion with the help of SFD diagram and photos taken during field visit
The District Magistrate (DM) had understanding of the existing challenges and issue of the city from containment to disposal. Furtherance, looked forward to solutions
How SFD of the city will look by year 2031, as measures were then presented with short and medium term goals, suggesting solutions of their problems if implemented
Presentation of a case example was given on best management practice of Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) in Devanhalli, Karnataka and decentralized waste water treatment plant (DWWTs) of CSE, Arvind eye hospital, Bidi Colony etc
The DM said, asserting the need to work on interventions to achieve citywide sanitation
The DM announced to implement two FSTP in the city and DWWTS wherever possible as per feasibility study. He also committed to offer full support to CSE for pilot projects

Major outcomes of the meeting

Letter from the city to state government regarding request for technical support from CSE on pilot interventions
Preparation of septage guidelines
DWWTS and two FSTP to be implemented
Land identification for pilot projects implementation is scheduled by 5 June 2017