‘We Urge Govt To Solve Sanitation Problems In The Himalayas’

The Centre and governments of Himalayan states should focus on sanitation systems in the Himalayas as well besides taking stock of wanton illegal construction and heavy tourist inflow, an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based thinktank, has urged.

An analysis of a few destinations with high influx of tourists in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim by CSE shows that most Himalayan towns do not have sewerage systems.

For instance, only 31.7 per cent of households in Uttarakhand are connected to the sewerage system; the rest depend on on-site sanitation systems.

Most households in the towns analysed also have faulty toilets, from which black water seeps into the ground and also affects springs—the prevalent water source in the region.

Similarly, most households and small hotels are adopting soak pits to manage grey water—wastewater from bathrooms and kitchen.

In some towns, grey water is allowed to flow in unlined open drains, which in turn seeps into the ground.

Each hill town receives 150 litres per capita of water supply and 65-70 per cent of this is converted into wastewater, according to guidelines of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin.

Millions of litres of grey water are thus forced into the ground, which is feared to further weaken the topsoil.

“In most towns analysed by CSE, the soil is clayey, loamy or metamorphosed schists, phyllites and gneiss. All these are either loose soil or weak rocks. As the huge amounts of water and wastewater seep through the ground, it would make the clayey and loamy soil softer and prone to landslides,” said Sushmita Sengupta from CSE.

She added that in the fragile Himalayas it is important to understand the soil and rock below to decide on the type of structures required for managing grey water.

CSE’s analysis comes even as a parliamentary panel stated in its report on August 10, 2023, that the Himalayas are under a lot of strain due to tourism and illegal construction.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment Forest and Climate Change, in its 135th report tabled in the Rajya Sabha, said: “The committee also highlights the tremendous increase of tourist activities in these areas which has put the natural resources under pressure. This has led to over-exploitation of natural resources and illegal construction of home stays, guest houses, resorts, hotels, restaurants and other encroachments.”

It recommended that the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change “should prepare a practical and implementable action plan with clear timelines to put a check on ecologically destructive activities,” news agency Press Trust of India reported.

This article is written by Swati Bhatia and republished from DownToEarth. Read the original article here.