The 2022 World Toilet Day is being observed on the theme of ‘Making the Invisible Visible’. In this context, discuss various government’s programs to improve sanitation.

October 28, 2023 February 21, 2024

 

Every year on November 19, the UN observes World Toilet Day. The major goal is to increase public knowledge of more extensive sanitation systems, including hand washing, stormwater management, and wastewater treatment.

Aim:

  • It is about taking action to address the global sanitation issue and realise Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: sanitation and water for all by 2030. 
  • The ‘Making the Invisible Visible’ campaign for 2022 investigates how inadequate sanitation systems spread human waste into rivers, lakes, and soil, polluting underground water resources.

India’s participation:

  • To commemorate World Toilet Day, the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen), organized the “Swachhta Run” in rural India.
  • SBM-G is acknowledged as the biggest behaviour modification programme in the world. 
  • India already met SDG Target 6.2 on access to safe sanitation when the entire country was designated as an Open Defecation Free State (ODF) in 2019; it is now working hard to achieve ODF+ status.

Way forward:

SBM(G) Phase-II emphasizing on sustainability of achievements under phase I and to provide adequate facilities for Solid/Liquid & plastic Waste Management (SLWM) in rural India must be accelerated and prioritized.

  1. Examine how intensive livestock farming is contributing to the rise of zoonotic diseases. Suggest solutions.

Animal health, the world’s food supply, and the economy all suffer greatly from livestock diseases, but human health is also greatly affected.

Reasons for increasing zoonotic diseases:

  • Human-wildlife interactions intensify as agriculture develops and becomes more intensive in order to support the world’s expanding population, and as natural habitats are turned into farmland or grazing grounds. 
  • As humans lack antibodies to the new illnesses, these zoonotic infections swiftly spread across our linked globe after becoming established in people, triggering outbreaks or even catastrophic pandemics. This has been well proved by the ongoing new coronavirus illness (COVID-19) epidemic. 
  • According to a survey, 77% of viruses that affect animals can also infect people and other creatures.
  • The majority of the rise in people and animal densities is predicted to occur in developing nations with inadequate disease surveillance, pest management, sanitation, and medical and veterinary care. 
  • India is one of the four nations with the highest burden of zoonotic disease, according to the ILRI, with widespread illness and mortality.

Remedial measures:

  • The National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM), initiated by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, seeks to identify each of the 500 million important livestock in the nation with a special 12-digit identity (ID) number, similar to the Aadhaar card for individuals. 
  • In order to track the spread of zoonotic illnesses and regulate them, it also intends to develop an interconnected livestock disease programme. 
  • In India, mobile dispensaries for animal ailments already exist. They ought to be given more support and held liable to panchayats. 
  • The inefficiency of vaccinations is caused by the lack of cold storage facilities in some veterinary institutions. It’s important to close this gap as much as possible.

Way forward :

The digital architecture of NDLM is appreciated, but there is a need for better infrastructure and diagnostic systems.

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