Wednesday 10 December 2014

Sanitation And Hygiene #SwachhIndia



Sanitation means the facilities and services enabling the safe collection & disposal of wastes- sewage, garbage, wastewater etc. 

Hygiene means conditions & practices necessary to maintain health and prevent diseases through cleanliness. Aristotle used the Greek adjective of hygiene as a noun to imply “health”.

Sanitation maintains the hygienic conditions.  

In Std-VI, we were introduced to the Indus Valley Civilization that flourished between 2500 BC and 1500 B.C. while the rest of the world was at a primitive stage. Really proud about ancient India’s highly-developed remarkable hydraulic engineering, water supply, sanitation devices and drainage system. The world's earliest known system of flush toilets existed in many homes, and the drains of the bathrooms were connected to the common sewerage pipe.
The street-drains along the sides of streets were covered with stone-slabs. The cities maintained high hygiene-standards & remained neat and clean as the drains and channels were cleaned regularly. The Great Bath of Mohenjodaro was awe-inspiring. Bathing was an act of religious duty.
Dholavira-Indus-Valley-Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization; Harappan city- Dholavira in Kutch, India; Source: Archaeological Survey of India
In October 2014, a 5000 year old Harappan stepwell, that’s bigger than Mohenjodaro’s Great Bath, has been found in one of the largest Harappan cities, Dholavira, in Kutch, Gujarat, India.
As per the Archaeological survey of India (ASI), Dholavirahas yielded toilets, sullage jars, or sanitary pits. Drains have shown a good variety even included cut-stone ones and pottery pipes.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.



How Sanitation & Hygiene Play A Role In Our Everyday Lives-

Sanitation & hygiene play an important role in our lives.
Many beliefs, actions, customs etc related to our life are traced to sanitation & hygiene. For example, some customs followed after the birth or death of a family-member viz. washing the clothes, bedsheets etc & cleaning & sanitizing the home may be explained to make the home germ-free. 

We need to ensure our body’s personal hygiene apart from our home’s good sanitation.
We use soap for bathing, washing-powder/detergent for our clothes, disinfectants like sunlight etc…
We wash our feet and hands after reaching home from outside. We change our clothes too.

Sanitation-&-Hygiene-&-I
Sanitation & Hygiene & I :)
After the birth of my daughter, sanitation & hygiene attained greater significance. Thanks to my Doctor’s & Mom’s instructions, before handling my child, I always disinfected my hands and requested others to do so too. I also ensured proper washing of clothes & mopping of floors.
Sanitation & hygiene is of prime importance in my life!


How Good Hygiene And Sanitation Can Affect India At Large-

Sanitation & hygiene impact standard of living & public health.

Millennium Development Goals 

They can help to attain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) having a direct impact on reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating infectious diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability…
Source: United Nations

Human Development Index 

A measure of socio-economic progress is the Human Development Index (HDI) computed annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The basic components of HDI are-
-life expectancy,
-literacy,
-standard of living,
-gender development index.

India’s HDI rank in 2014 was 135 amongst 187 countries. India is amongst the “medium development” countries.
How can we have a developed India unless we have a Swachh India with good standard of living?



Basic Needs


From the Maslow’s Hierarachy of Needs, sanitation & hygiene are basic needs in the lower levels of the hierarchy. Once the Physiological & Safety needs are met, the next levels can be targetted.
Maslow's-Hierarchy-Of-Needs
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs ; Pic Source: Wikimedia Commons
For India to be a developed country with great sanitation & hygiene, the basic needs need to be addressed first.
Many are yet to access-
- pipe-water for basic tasks like washing hands
- water-purification system or good quality drinking-water instead of contaminated water
- toilet facilities ; still practice open defecation
- proper sanitation, sewerage & drainage-systems
- soap, handwash and detergent for personal hygiene

Good infrastructure & habits are needed as “Prevention is better than the cure”.

“Don’t give a place to disease”- Auvaiyyar, Tamil saint-poetess 

Advantages Of Better Sanitation & Hygiene-


Prevention of diseases & infections- A clean micro-environment will be in place with proper drainage of dirty-water & garbage, sewage & industrial waste disposal.
The simple act of washing hands with soap and water can empower people to save lives & help prevent 40% of diarrhoeal diseases & 30% of respiratory infections. 




Lesser flies & mosquitoes- Open defecation, drains, stagnant water in ponds, piles of garbage, irresponsible dumping & disposal etc attract flies and mosquitoes that act as killers by spreading deadly diseases.
As per a World Health organization (WHO) report in today’s newspaper, “India has 12.8 crore suspected Malaria cases”. 111 crore Indians are at a risk of getting infected with Malaria. Then, there is the “deadly threat of the Malaria strain becoming resistant to the most advanced drugs available till date”.

Dignity of life & better life & quality of living- Women have to wait till it gets dark so that they can relieve themselves in the open. A World Bank Report states- “absence of toilet is one of the important contributors to malnutrition' & 'access to improved sanitation can increase cognition among children.”
Where there is mind, there ought to be toilet (“Jahan Soch, Wahan Sauchalaya”)


Reduced Rape-cases- There will be lesser rape incidents as women are attacked when they go to the field to answer nature’s call.

Education for all including girls- Girls drop out of schools owing to poor sanitation facilities. Proper sanitation can help education.

Fewer kids fall sick- Many families in India are Below-Poverty-Line (BPL). Many can’t afford food. Mid-Day Meals in schools attract children & impact education. However, while preparation, proper hygiene needs to be maintained & quality Mid-day-Meals need to be served to kids.

Better Health, Healthcare & IMMUNE INDIA
A healthy nation means better productivity and makes good economic sense as less man-hours & resources are wasted combating against germs & diseases. ‘A healthy mind dwells in a healthy body.’ 

Parents take pains to ensure that their child gets the best facilities & goes to a good school.
But, are we making an effort to ensure a good environment & sustainable living for our kids? 


Dirty-India-or-Swachh-India
The Choice is Our's- Dirty India or #SwachhIndia?
Environment-Friendly Acts- Caring for the Environment & adopting green ways to ensure a good and clean environment aids sanitation & hygiene. Pollution is increasing at all levels- Air, Water, Ground… Increase in the use of plastic that’s not bio-degradable is a concern. 

Use of polythene/plastic bags affects sanitation & hygiene-
1. Plastic is disposed with food-refuse. This is consumed by cows- they get choked & die or else yield poisonous milk… Entire food-chain is affected.
2. When polythene/garbage is burnt, toxic fumes are released & there’s air-pollution.
3. Plastic-bags block drains & cause artificial floods. They clog the sewers/drains and thus, there are water-logged roads. It’s a major problem during monsoons when a few mm of rain can flood entire cities…
4. Soil quality worsens as artificial and bio-degradable materials ruin its composition. Soil is our precious resource. Clean soil is the heritage of our ancestors. It provides us food and helps us live.
5. Water-pollution with toxic wastes like plastic causes fish and marine creatures' death.
6. Simply banning plastic is not enough. Enforcement and people’s willing participation is needed. NO water-logging was seen on the roads this year in one area that has banned plastic-bags, & where people get their own shopping-bags.

Be the change you want to see in the world” -Gandhiji.

Gandhiji supported NO SPITTING & no urinating on the street and considered these to be offence.   
Newly constructed Subway in Kolkata - Dust-bins & DO NOT SPIT signs
Swachh India is not just the task of the government alone. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies and contribution of individuals will help create a Swachh India. I support the “Each one, teach one” concept in which we are all responsible to share our knowledge to uphold sanitation & hygiene.
May we all do this everyday and not just on Earth Day or World Environment Day.

Just like ‘Charity begins at home’, we must ensure that sanitation & hygiene start from the womb.

It is our social responsibility as citizens of India to help fulfill Gandhiji’s vision of ‘Clean India’ by his 150th birth anniversary in 2019” – Narendra Modi 

The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana is commendable. 
If every village, town & city becomes a model-place,  then we can attain a Swachh India.
Why no change in the face of our Village? ; Programme on NDTV India
Swachh India information can be shared with the public through the print, radio, TV & Social Media, plays, street-shows, events like Cleanathon & NDTV Dettol Banega Swachh India bus - SwachhExpress etc. Change in attitudes, mindsets & behaviour can be brought about using all these. 

As we have already seen from past success-stories like Elections 2014- Vote For India & India’s Pulse Polio programme, much can be attained by earnest leadership & Celebrity endorsement. 
Shri Narendra Modi & Shri Amitabh Bachchan are role-models with many "followers".



WE-POWER will help us triumph as “Unity is Strength”.
Together you & I can help clean India’s entire breadth & length!

United we can ensure the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.
It needs enthu participation with basic common-sense/gyaan.

Policies are in place; implementation is what we need to chase.
Let’s mend our past ways & Clean India together for better days. 

Swachh India is our dream that we must surely achieve together.
This is our India; if we don’t take care of her, then who’ll bother?

Vision-> Intention-> Discussion-> Information-> Mission-> Participation-> Action-> Implementation-> Solution-> Inspiration for Generations -> Continuation…

Swachh-India-Flowchart-By-Anita
#SwachhIndia Flowchart
Now that we have the Swachh India vision, we need sincere intention, discussion, information, mission, participation, action and implementation for the clean & green solution that will serve as an inspiration for generations & help in continuation…

Jai Hind!




Written for - Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

Sanitation and hygiene begin at Home: write a blog post on how sanitation and hygiene play a role in your everyday lives. You can also cite instances on how good hygiene and sanitation can affect India at large!


The author is a PhD Researcher with an educational-background in Science, Computer-Application, Management & Humanities. These are her personal views.

Some of her socially relevant posts mentioned here-
Vote For India With Social Mobile Apps
WE-POWER
Blog To Feed A Child- Mid-Day Meals
IMMUNE INDIA


Also linking to-
Wordless Wednesday#64- No action, No life...
ABC Wednesday - V for Vision
Thursday Challenge- My Favorite 
Saturday PhotoHunt- Beauty

47 comments:

  1. Excellent blog post for swach bharat.
    I also loved that pix of you with different arms holding the detergents.
    Actions speak louder in this instance, and your blog had all the elements to make it clean :)

    Thanks for linking up...always a pleasure, Anita!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, Ruchira :)
      Glad you loved my post & the pic inspired by Maa Durga :)
      Actions speak louder than words. May we all take actions for a Swachh India.

      Pleasure to link up!

      Delete
  2. What a fabulous, informative and inspiring post! I came across the link on Ruchira's blog. It's interesting to read the history and understand what actions are taking place now for an improved future. Love the photo of multiple arms holding different sanitary products. So clever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Welcome to my Blog, Charli :)
      Lovely to learn that you loved my post & the pic.
      Actually, I got the idea of the arms from an Indian Goddess- Maa Durga who has 10 arms :) I could just manage 8!

      Delete
  3. Hygiene is very important socially, and your post really delineates the reasons why. And like everyone else, I thought the picture was very clever!

    SamuraiFrog, ABCW

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hygiene is indeed very important. Thanks a lot for stopping by & reading.
      Thanks for your appreciation!
      The pic is thanks to an Indian Goddess- Maa Durga's inspiration :)

      Delete
  4. Well researched,scholarly and aptly illustrated article.Very topical and much needed. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading & for sharing your valuable words :)

      Delete
  5. This is really interesting, Anita. Thanks for sharing! Oh, and I loved the clever Indian Goddess photo, too! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by & for your appreciation!
      I loved writing this post & posing for the pic too, Jessica :)

      Delete
  6. Such a nice blog Anita, honestly we all want a clean and swachh India, but unfortunately we all think that it is the duty of the Government to clean our own India. This is the main reason why we are currently living in dirty places, but if we all can think in the similar way we can make it a clean place as well...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Truly Alok. We all must take ownership.
      If we all unitedly take care, we'll ultimately have a clean world.
      Looking forward to #SwachhIndia soon.
      Thank you for sharing :)

      Delete
  7. Hats off to you and your writing . i am mesmerized and awaken by this post . keep up the good work

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, Vinay :)

      Delete
  8. Very informative, with fun graphics to boot.

    ROG, ABCW

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hygiene is very important indeed. How impressive that 5000 till 3000 years ago India was so highly developped and had such a great sanitory system. Gandhi's words are important for us all and for all religions. Thank you for this post.
    Wil, ABCW Team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading, Wil :)
      Yes, India boasts of a glorious history and heritage.
      Gandhiji's words are important and we are trying to honour them...

      Delete
  10. Elaborate and excellent. From why to how, you have explained it all.
    Great post Anita.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Indrani for your appreciation :)
      Glad you liked it!

      Delete
  11. A wonderful post, Anita. The same people (Indians) who realised importance of hygiene many years ago have forgotten about it today. It's sad.
    I love the way you have also given leads on how to make swachh Bharat possible. Hope it happens soon !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very true, Kiran! India has had an envious & glorious past. We need to recreate that attitude & sophistication again...
      Amen! Swachh Bharat will be reality with our efforts.
      Thanks for sharing your views!

      Delete
  12. Anita, you are so pretty and elegant.
    And so proud of you. You walk the talk unlike most other bloggers.
    After reading about 5000 year old sanitation I am wondering if we have taken two steps forward and four steps backward when it comes to cleanliness. A pleasure reading this post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alka for stopping by & for your kind words!
      You have beautiful eyes as 'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' :)
      Indeed! We must live up to the high standards of our ancestors.

      Delete
  13. It is such a comprehensive post! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Excellently written article once again...Sanitation explained at a very best level..simple and well written..

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks for nice words, Nikhil :)
      Delighted you liked it!

      Delete
  15. A brilliant post....
    I liked the details you have included...
    Good job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your appreciation :)
      Glad you liked it!

      Delete
  16. Superb Anita! I love the way you presented matters. Your 'Sanitation Hygiene and I' picture is so creative! Also amazed to know that you are a PhD Researcher!
    Proud of you talented lady!
    Best wishes :) TC! Keep smiling :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your kind words and wishes mean a lot, Sindhu :)
      Thank you so much!

      Delete
  17. Anita really detailed. I love the picture too. Very creative. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I do agree. A clean nation is every individual's responsibility. A sense of pride is what's missing, and that will come only when we involve ourself. Very well stated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Truly Pratishtha. Do hope we all realize our responsibility, involve ourselves & gift our India the pride she deserves...
      Thanks for reading & sharing!

      Delete
  19. Lovely post, Anita. So enlightening too. I loved your picture as well. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your lovely words & wishes, Rachna :)
      Delighted that my post & pic appealed to you!

      Delete
  20. Comprehensive post. Love the attention to detail.

    You should certainly be made an ambassador for this Abhiyan !

    Cheers !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your kind words & appreciation :)

      We have inspiring ambassadors for #SwachhBharat & #SwachhIndia already - Shri Narendra Modi & Shri Amitabh Bachchan.
      But, yes, each of us must consider ourselves to be an ambassador & do responsible works for our India.
      Then, we'll surely have a Clean India.

      Delete
  21. What I like about this post is the amount of hard work, research and passion you've injected in such a simple way designed to educate the masses. Also, love the graphics and the Maslow one reminds me of my FYBA Psychology class-we had it in our syllabus. Glad to see you also for the first time.
    Simply brilliant:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot for your hearty recognition & kind appreciation, Vishal :)
      Yes, it's true that I have invested time & effort for my #SwachhIndia Social Message posts, as I sincerely believe that the India of our dreams will be possible with our passion & action. May all the masses be "educated"...
      Thanks!

      Delete
  22. Thanks for stopping by & for sharing your maiden comment here, Chris!
    I'm honoured by your lovely words & invite.
    I will surely register in the World Directory Blogspot :)

    Merry Christmas to you and your family :)
    Thanks for your kind wish & gift!
    Best wishes :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. What an informative post.Just imagine we were so far ahead in Harrapan days,yet today it is dirt and squalor all round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your appreciation, Induji :)
      Hope we attain the past glory soon.

      Delete
  24. Excellent post! Deserves 2 win! That photo was a big surprise! Gr8 creativity! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your appreciation & recognition, Amrita :)
      However, this post hasn't won any prize as the judges didn't feel so :)

      Delete

Your words mean a lot to me.

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