Uttar Pradesh government to issue faecal sludge and septage management guidelines, prepared by CSE, in 653 towns

UP facing a severe problem of excreta overload. State manages to treat only 13.16 per cent of its excreta

New Delhi, May 8, 2018: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has prepared a set of
comprehensive guidelines for managing faecal sludge and septage in cities of Uttar Pradesh
– in a recently held review meeting, the Uttar Pradesh government declared that these
guidelines will soon be issued for 653 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state.
Manoj Kumar Singh, principal secretary,department of urban development, government of
Uttar Pradeshassured that the guidelines will be issued and they will help the ULBs in
faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM). The guidelines were prepared by CSE on
request of the department.

Said Suresh Rohilla, programme director, water management, CSE: “According to the
national policy on FSSM released by the Union ministry of urban development, every state
in India has to develop guidelines and provide technical, financial and administrative
support to ULBsand encourage coordination and cooperation among ULBs.”

He added: “States also need to regulate and help ULBs set up systems to ensure financial
sustainability in provision of FSSM services and implement municipal by-laws, create
enabling environment for participation of NGOs and CSOs in provision of FSSM services
(including to the poor and marginalised households and areas), and support-develop state-
level FSSM strategy and implementation plans, research and capacity building as well as
monitoring and evaluation capabilities.”

As per a 2015 report of the Central Pollution Control Board, Uttar Pradesh has 73 sewage
treatment plants (STPs) with a cumulative treatment capacity of 2,646.84 million litres per
day (MLD). Seven of these STPs (89.59 MLD) are non-operational, three (cumulative
capacity 170 MLD) are under construction, and one STP (15 MLD) has been proposed.
CSE researchers point out that a Faecal Waste Flow Diagram (often referred to as ‘SFD’)
based on the 2011 Census, shows that 86.73 per cent of the untreated excreta in the state
either enters water bodies or is disposed of in agricultural lands or the domestic environment. “This poses a huge risk to public health and the environment at large,” said Rohilla.

Under this partnership with the state government, CSE will support the department of
urban development in improvingthe capacity of the state and its ULBs in planning,
designing and implementation of interventions across the sanitation value chain for
effective septage management and for preparing City Sanitation Plans. This will include
technical support for pilot intervention in a few towns/cities, monitoring and research
required to identify barriers and solutions for scaling up interventions required for
achieving city-wide sanitation.

CSE has selected Bijnor and Chunar as its target model towns for this project. CSE has also
agreed to provide technical support to the department for developing a pilot project (in
and around Lucknow, the state capital) for showcasing cost-effective co-treatment of faecal
sludge and septage at existing sewage treatment plants and dedicated faecal sludge and
septage treatment plants.

Said Rohilla: “This collaboration between CSE and the state will help in strengthening the
ongoing efforts towardsreducing pollution in the Ganga, by allowing disposal and co-
treatment of faecal sludge and septage in all existing and upcoming STPs and faecal sludge
treatment plants where no STPs exist in towns and cities across the state.”

 For any other details or for interviews, please contact Parul Tiwari of The CSE
Media Resource Centre, parul@cseindia.org / 9891838367.