On 6th September ENPHO family came together for its 17th Annual General Assembly, which also elected a new Executive Board for the next three years. This issue of the ENPHO E-Bulletin includes a summary of the ENPHO’s Annual Report that was presented at the AGM. In 2007/08, ENPHO continued to expand its services both in terms of geographic areas as well as new sectors in order to reach out to more people and expand our scope of work. In this process we have also formed new partnerships and made our presence felt in national and international forums. While we continued to focus on issues related to safe water and sustainable sanitation, we also expanded into areas such as indoor air quality, energy and climate change. Our services extended from Ilam & Panchthar districts in the East to Bajhang and Kailali districts in Far Western Nepal. However, while we expanded our scope of work we have also gone back to our roots and strengthened our Research & Development (R&D) related activities. All this has been accomplished with the support of our staff and supporters and we wish to say “Thank You” to each one of them. We will continue to grow and extend to more communities in the year ahead.
We wish all of you a Very Happy DASHAIN & TIHAR HOLIDAYS.
Highlights of ENPHO’s Annual Report 2007/08
Some of ENPHO’s major achievements in 2007/08 are as follows:
Safe water
- ENPHO stepped up its efforts to promote Point of Use (POU) Water Treatment Systems by expanding existing campaigns and joining hands with new partners to implement its 3D (Develop, Demonstrate and Disseminate) approach. Together with
UNICEF and Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS), ENPHO promoted POU water treatment options in four pilot districts (Panchthar, Parsa, Kapilvastu, and Dang) through communities and 200 schools. Similarly, with support from UN-HABITAT, Coca Cola Company and EAWAG/SANDEC, ENPHO has initiated similar campaigns in five municipalities – Lalitpur, Hetauda, Bharatpur, Butwal and Nepalgunj. ENPHO has also signed an MOU with Nepal CRS Company for the distribution of PIYUSH chlorine solution and launched a marketing campaign with support from AED N-Marc project. ENPHO was able to sell 195,010 units of PIYUSH in 2007/08, an increase of 79.5% compared to the previous year.
- With support from UNICEF, ENPHO has also launched awareness campaigns on POU water treatment and hand washing in flood prone areas. In 2007, ENPHO provided training as well as chlorine solution in 75 VDCs of four districts. Similarly, in 2008, ENPHO is working in six flood prone districts. ENPHO has also distributed PIYUSH in flood affected areas.
- In order to support the implementation of the National Drinking Water Quality Standards, ENPHO is conducting a Research, Education and Advocacy Campaign in several municipalities, with support from Water Aid Nepal. ENPHO has already tested the water quality in various sources, reservoirs and taps in 22 municipalities, organized stakeholder workshops on water quality and water safety plans in six municipalities and started the process of preparing Water Safety Plans in Hetauda.
Sanitation
ENPHO assisted Dhulikhel Hospital in expanding the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant which was established in 1997 as the first constructed wetland system in Nepal. The plant can now treat 90 m3 of wastewater per day.
- ENPHO is working with Dhulikhel Municipality and local community of Shrikhandapur to establish a wastewater treatment plant consisting of two 75 m3 biogas digesters along with vertical and horizontal flow reed bed treatment units.
- In Hetauda, ENPHO, with support from UN-HABITAT is assisting the municipality, private waste collectors and local community groups in setting up a 3 ton per day composting facility. ENPHO is also establishing a medical waste management system in Hetauda. This includes a small double chambered incinerator based on design developed by De Montfort University of UK.
Community Based WATSAN
ENPHO was involved in community based water and sanitation projects in Hetauda, Chapagaon, Lanagol, Chovar, Gundu, Dhulikhel, Siraha and Saptari. On 13 April 2008, the community of Lanagol, declared itself as “Open Defecation Free” community.
- In Hetauda, the community based WATSAN project, which was initially implemented in four poor communities is now being expanded to 10 other communities. ENPHO is supporting Hetauda Municipality in mobilizing local communities, operating revolving funds for construction of toilets, promoting environmental sanitation and household water treatment. So far more than 200 toilets – of which more than 50 are biogas attached toilets, one community managed toilet and two school toilets have been constructed in these communities. Similarly, about 200 compost bins have been distributed following training on waste management.
Research & Development
- Research has been initiated to develop a simple technology that will simultaneously address the need for clean indoor air and safe water. The Water Pasteurization through Improved Cook Stoves (WAPIC) combines a simple mud brick improved cook stove with a pasteurization unit consisting of an aluminum coil placed in the combustion chamber or chimney of the stove. Initial results from the research, which is being supported by WaterAid Nepal, are promising and ENPHO will soon test this equipment in the field.
- ENPHO has also initiated research to test the performance of existing colloidal silver filters and develop a CS coated candle that can replace the existing candles in ordinary household filters. The research is being done in partnership with Madhyapur Clay Crafts.
- ENPHO has joined hands with the Central Horticultural Centre to conduct research on the impact of urine application in different crops. The research is designed to increase the involvement of the agricultural sector for promoting ecological sanitation.
- A health survey was done in three arsenic affected Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Kalilali district to assess the status of arsenic exposure and identify arsenicosis cases. The study was done with support from Rural Village Water Resources Management Project.
With support from Alternative Energy Promotion Centre/Energy Sector Assistance Programme, ENPHO conducted a study on environmental and health impacts of improved cook stoves in three districts – Dang, Dolakha and Ilam.
- ENPHO is continuing to monitor ambient air quality in Kathmandu Valley through six monitoring stations for the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology.
- ENPHO is monitoring the ambient air quality in the loading and unloading zones of a Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK) during four seasons over a period of one year.
- ENPHO is testing the quality of water being supplied by rural water supply systems is 17 districts for the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board.
- With support from UNHABITAT, ENPHO tested the performance of SOLVATTEN, a new technology that utilizes sunlight for treating drinking water.
- ENPHO has initiated a research / capacity building project titled, “Food Security in Local Markets of Kathmandu Valley Nepal - Validation and Quality Control of Methods for Pesticide Analysis” in collaboration with BOKU University and LVA Laboratory in Austria.
- ENPHO’s research Lab analyzed 2798 samples in 2007/08. Out of these 58 % were drinking water samples and others included wastewater, air, soil and limestone.
Organizational Development & Financial Management
- ENPHO’s total revenue was Rs. 42,281,230, which was 7% higher than last year. Most of the revenue was generated from funds provided by partners to implement various projects. Of this total revenue, 8% was from laboratory services and 5% from sale of PIYUSH.
- ENPHO has maintained a wide variety of funding sources and partners, both domestic and international to reduce risks associated with over dependence on one source.
- In order to strengthen its monitoring and evaluation system, ENPHO has established a Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit and initiated the process of establishing a system of M&E within the organization and it has also initiated Community-Based M&E in a few of its project areas.
- ENPHO staff received training on topics such as “Facilitation Skills” and “School Led Total Sanitation.”
- Several ENPHO staff have participated and made presentations in national and international seminars. ENPHO staff have also been invited as Resource Persons for training programmes held in Nepal as well as abroad.
Education & Advocacy
- ENPHO organized 19 interaction programmes as well as training programmes to share knowledge and build local capacity.
- ENPHO worked with NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation on various campaigns including Advocacy for Integrated Melamchi and Citizens Campaign to Test Drinking Water Quality.
- ENPHO continued to publish the monthly ENPHO E-bulletin and starting March 2008, it also published “Sarsafai” – a monthly E-Bulletin for the International Year of Sanitation Nepal Committee.
ENPHO wishes to thank all its staff and well wishers without whom these achievements would not have been possible.
:: ENPHO NEWS ::
NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON “COMMUNITY BASED WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT AT DHULIKHEL MUNICIPALITY”
A national level workshop on “Community based Wastewater Treatment Plant at Dhulikhel Municipality” was organized jointly by UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities programme, Urban Environment Improvement Programme (UEIP) and Dhulikhel Municipality on 24th September. ENPHO facilitated at all sessions of the workshop. Mr. Kishor Thapa, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW) - the chief guest of the workshop, stressed the need of assessment of social acceptance before promoting western technology. The workshop was attended by municipal staffs as well as personnel from other organizations. The theme of the workshop was community based wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) constructed at Shreekhandapur (Ward No. 9) of Dhulikhel Municipality with its main objective to disseminate the WWTP system and create an interactive platform to all UEIP towns. The highlight of the programme was the bio-gas plant attached to this newly constructed WWTP. The plant is one of its kind in Nepal with the total capacity of 150 cu.m. of wastewater volume. The plant was constructed under the financial & technical support of UN-HABITAT and supervision of the construction was undertaken by Shreekhandapur WWTP Users Committee. The technical support to implement the system was provided by ENPHO. The construction of the bio-gas plant was supervised by Rapti Renewable Energy Services P. Ltd., registered under Bio Gas Support Programme (BSP) Nepal. During the workshop Mr. Pitamber Narayan Shrestha, engineer of Dhulikhel municipality made a presentation on overall activities of the programme.
CONTINUED ENDEAVORS TO PROVIDE SERVICE DELIVERY REGARDING SAFE WATER AND SUSTAINABLE SANITATION
ENPHO, with the support from Water Aid in Nepal, is working in peri-urban communities of Kathmandu Valley. Under this theme, household centered water and sanitation programmes are implemented in Kibachowk of Gundu VDC, Bhaktapur. In the month of September, ENPHO focused on promotion of toilets and training programmes on Health & Hygiene, Point of Use Water Treatment, Solid Waste Management and Ecological Sanitation in these communities. On the same month, “suiro program’’ has been conducted in total target households. In addition, 37 ecosan toilets, 4 sulav toilets, and 5 soak pits(juthelno) have been constructed and the construction of school toilet has already begun.
TRAINING ON PROMOTION OF POU DRINKING WATER TREATMENT OPTIONS AT SCHOOLS AND WATER QUALITY TESTING
Three days trainings on School POU promotion and Water Quality Testing were organized from 12 – 30 September in Dang, Kapilvastu, Panchthar and Parsa districts. On the first day, discussions and presentations were made on various POU options as well as promotion & installation of such options at school level. In addition, in depth discussion was made on guidelines for selection, installation and monitoring of POU options at school. The first day participants were technicians from Water Supply and Sanitation Divisional Offices (WSSDO) and community motivators. The second and third day of training programme was mainly focused on hands on tutorial on water quality testing and installation of POU at schools. Five technicians from WSSD offices participated during this hands on tutorial and out of five trained technicians, two will be working for the implementation of School POU programme. After the training, activities such as orientation at schools, technical observation for selection and installation of POU options at schools has started in all four programme districts. Similarly, POU options have already been installed in more than 20 schools at four districts.
TRAINING ON SAFE WATER AND SUSTAINABLE SANITATION
ENPHO on collaboration with Rural Village Water Resource Management Project (RVWRMP) organized a five days training on Safe Water and Sustainable Sanitation at ENPHO training hall from 1-5 September. The 20 participants were Engineers and Overseers from RVWRMP and District Technical Offices of nine districts from Far Western Region of Nepal. The training programme was broadly divided into two main modules: Safe Water and Sanitation. Safe water included sessions on water quality & health; National Drinking Water Quality Standards, its implementation & compliance; safe water systems including POU options, hands on tutorial on use of ENPHO water test kits including water sampling and sample preservation techniques. Similarly, Sanitation module included sessions on concept & need of sustainable sanitation; technical session on ECOSAN including implementation issues; Biogas systems; solid waste management including composting. Field visits were made to Khokhana and Pyang villages to provide participants an opportunity to observe the use of ECOSAN toilets and interact with ECOSAN toilet users. Ms. Kalawati Pokhrel from RVWRMP made a presentation on RVWRMP strategy on promotion of Safe Water Systems and Sustainable Sanitation within its project area. During the closing session, Mr. Kamal Jaishi from DOLIDAR, Mr. Bhushan Tuladhar from ENPHO and Mr. Kari Leminen and Mr. Sunil Kumar Das from RVWRMP closed the five days training programme delivering concluding remarks.
BOOK ON NEPAL’S EXPERIENCE WITH ECOSAN
On the occasion of the Regional ECOSAN Workshop organized by WHO, Water Aid Nepal and ENPHO published a book on Nepal’s Experience with Urine Diverting Ecosan Toilet. The book is primarily based on research conducted by ENPHO in 2006/07 to assess the performance of Ecosan toilets in Nepal. Urine diverting ecosan toilets were introduced in Nepal in 2002 and so far more than 1000 such toilets have been constructed in Nepal.
TRAINING ON SCHOOL LED TOTAL SANITATION (SLTS)
On 13-15 September, a three-day training on School Led Total Sanitation was organized for principles, Parents Teachers Associations, and School Management Committee members from 10 school in Hetauda. The training was organized in Bharatpur and it included field visits as well as planning sessions. After the training, the participants have initiated SLTS campaigns in their catchment areas.
REVIEW MEETING ON WASH EMERGENCY DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN SIX DISTRICTS
A review meeting on UNICEF supported WASH emergency disaster preparedness programme in six districts was organized on 28-29 September in Narayanghat. The meeting mainly focused on progress, impact and major outcomes of the programme in flood affected areas, to interact on need of such programme and modification of implementation strategy for better outcomes. The meeting was facilitated by Mr. Makhan Maharjan and Dr. Binod M. Dahal from ENPHO. Mr. Madhav Pahari from UNICEF highlighted on outlook, strategy and future programmes of UNICEF for WASH emergency disaster preparedness programme in Nepal. Similarly, Dr. Suman K. Shakya from ENPHO emphasized on active participation of local partners to accomplish the objectives of the programme.
POU/COKE/SODIS ACTIVITIES IN MUNICIPALITIES
ENPHO in partnership with UN-HABITAT, The Bottlers Nepal, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) including its divisional offices and Municipalities (Hetauda, Bharatpur, Butwal, Nepalgunj and Nepalgunj) has been conducting various safe water awareness and promotion activities in above mentioned municipalities. Teej Geet competition (theme: household drinking water treatment options) among 55 TLOs from different 13 wards of the municipality was organized in Butwal
Municipality from 27-29 August. The total of 2000 people participated in the function. Similarly, under this project, stakeholder’s meeting was organized on 16 September in Nepalgunj Municipality to orient them on Household Water Treatment options and project implementation modalities. In addition, two days TOT to Community Mobilizers was conducted in Butwal and Nepalgunj Municipality. In this training, altogether 40 mobilizers were trained on household drinking water treatment options and safe storage of water. On the same occasion, they prepared an action plan on how to implement the program at community level. Similarly 55 local authorities, 32 journalists and 55 health workers were also oriented on POU options.
EXHIBITION ON SAFE WATER AND SUSTAINABLE SANITATION
ENPHO participated in following exhibitions organized by various organizations in order to promote safe water and sustainable sanitation options:
- Program: International Youth Day Celebration at Nepal Police Club – ENPHO exhibited POU option and PIYUSH. Organized by: AYON.
Program: Exhibition on School Health Nutrition Program – ENPHO exhibited POU options & PIYUSH. Organized by: Ministry of Population and Health, JICA, Save the Children-US, Heller Keller International and CCS Italy.
- Program: 2nd Nationwide Inter School Quiz Competition at Little Angel’s School. ENPHO exhibited - PIYUSH and safe drinking water options. Organized by: Rotract Club of Kasthamandap.
- Program: Regional Workshop on Ecological Sanitation as part of the activities of the International Year of Sanitation (IYS) 2008. ENPHO exhibited: ECOSAN model and IEC materials. Organized by: DWSS, Nepal and South East Asia Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO).
MORE FUNDS FOR SANITATION IN BAJHANG
ENPHO has signed an agreement with SIMAVI, Netherlands to promote Ecosan, Biogas and Rainwater Harvesting through School Led Total Sanitation in Bajhang District. The two-year 30,000 Euro initiative is part of a larger project titled, “Adaptation to Climate Change through Rainwater Harvesting in Nepal.”
TRAINING ON WATER QUALITY AND TREATMENT PLANT OPERATION
The Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) has been trying hard to enhance the technical as well as managerial skills of its staff members in order to provide better services to the water consumers of Kathmandu Valley. In this context, KUKL has partnered with various organizations/institutes to develop and organize series of trainings. In this context, a five-days Training on “Water Quality & Treatment Plant Operation” was organized in association with Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) from 8-12 September. This five-day training basically focused on hands knowledge on operation and maintenance of Water Treatment Plants and different methods to maintain water quality standard. In addition, the participants {(Treatment Plant Operators (TPO)} were oriented on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) measures. The training to TPO concluded with the development of future strategy to promote safe water. During the closing session of the training, distributing certificates to the participants, the Constituent Assembly member Mr. Nabindra Raj Joshi highlighted the important role of Treatment Plant Operators in providing safe water to the denizens of Kathmandu valley. On the same occasion Mr. Joshi visited the ENPHO research Laboratory.
PARTICIPATION/PRESENTATIONS
- On 27 September, Bhushan Tuladhar, Executive Director, ENPHO gave a presentation to senior journalists on “Climate Change and its Relevance to Nepal”.
- Rajesh Adhikari, Promotional Manager at ENPHO participated in Emergency WASH training with focus on Recurring Emergencies - South Asian Context from 24 – 28 August organized by UNICEF South Asia, Red-R-India, Red-R-UK and Kathmandu University.
- Rajendra Shrestha, Program Manager at ENPHO gave presentations at the “Training on Sustainable Sanitation” organized by Rural Village Water Resource Management Project (RVWRMP) in Dhangadi from 9-11 September and 12-15 September. The main objective of the training was to educate the Field Coordinators of RVWRMP on sustainable sanitation including eco-latrine.
- Rajesh Adhikari, Promotional Manager at ENPHO participated in a National Workshop on Strategy for School Health and Nutrition held on 17 September organized by Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, CCS Italy, SAVE the Children, Hellen Keller International and JICA.
- On 13 September, Rajesh Adhikari, Promotional Manager at ENPHO gave a presentation on production, historical background, role to control water born disease, use in emergencies and new marketing approach of PIYUSH to Field Coordinators of MITRA SAMAJ.
:: LOCAL NEWS ::
NUMBER OF MONKEYS INCREASED DUE TO LACK OF GARBAGE MANAGEMENT
Monkeys have increased in the Forestry Campus at Hetauda due to lack of garbage management. Though the municipality has been managing the city’s waste mobilizing the private resources, it has not been able to manage garbage inside the campus premises. Monkeys have increased in the campus area due to the campus administration not showing concern to manage garbage. There are three hostels, five blocks for the staffs and a canteen inside the campus. However, the campus has not made any plan for the proper management of garbage. The campus has been dumping garbage produced from the campus in the nearby forest.
Source: Nepal Samacharpatra, 22 SeptemberCASH FROM TRASH
Arati Subedi is one of relatively few householders in Kathmandu who separate their kitchen waste into what can and cannot be recycled. Her organic waste goes into government-subsidized bins to fertilize her small but lush garden, while empty glass and plastic containers are reused, returned to shopkeepers or sold to garbage collectors for recycling. In her small way, Subedi is helping to reduce the amount of garbage which gets dumped each day at the city's rubbish tip at Sisdole. If only there were more Arati Subedis in Kathmandu, the capital wouldn't have a trash problem. A 2005 study found that 71 per cent of waste produced in Kathmandu Valley was organic and compostable. Paper made up 8.5 per cent, and this could be recycled. Rabin Man Shrestha, chief at the KMC's Solid Waste Management Unit says garbage disposal workers cannot afford to sort the rubbish themselves because of lack of space and the huge amount of time required. "But if the garbage is separated at source, the volume of garbage is reduced and more of it can be recycled or composted," he said.
Rakesh Khadka is a recycling wholesaler who, with many others, works near the municipality's waste disposal site in Teku. Independent garbage collectors sell him rubbish, which he separates out and sells to recyclers of plastic, paper and metal for a small profit. Dry paper sells for Rs 6 per kg, and Khadka sells 20 tons of trash a month from which he makes Rs 15,000 a month. An organisation called Himalayan Health Care has been going around quietly for the past 16 years, collecting plastic from roadsides and cinema halls. The junk is woven into bins, stools and coasters among a list of over a hundred other products, all of which are exported abroad. Their partner, the Spiral Foundation, has opened a showroom for them in LA and provided publicity through Hollywood big shots like Steven Spielberg and George Clooney. Sharad Parajuli, the founder of Himalayan Health Care says, "The returns are reinvested in the three VDC's in Dhading from which one thousand women are employed." The profit has paid for the establishment of a hospital in Illam, health posts, skills training, and major surgeries for the locals. Across the river in Lalitpur, the Women's Environment Preservation Committee (WEPCO) has been helping to improve waste management for more than a decade, by promoting the '3R' principle (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse), organizing door-to-door rubbish collections, building community compost pits, promoting vermiculture and training other women. Largely thanks to the committee, more households in Kupundole now make their own compost and some have started to sort their rubbish before disposing of it. In the middle of Thamel is a small firm called Jamarko, which supplies its handmade, recycled paper products—such as greetings cards and lampshades—to offices and restaurants, among other clients. The labour-intensive process means profits are small, but the owners are optimistic about future export opportunities. As the city's population grows, producing ever more waste, the work of individuals like Rakesh Khadka and of organisations like WEPCO and Jamarko will become increasingly important. The Sisdole landfill site is expected to be full within the next six months, and the city authorities will be looking for a new dump. But Bishnu Thakali, president of WEPCO, says there's an easier, more profitable alternative: "If it were really to be utilised, there's a 50 per cent profit in garbage." Instead of just chucking it all into a hole in the ground, why not use it in innovative ways that not only reduce the burden on the environment but also generate profit?
Source: Nepalitimes, 19-25 SeptemberDIARRHOEA IN CHEPANG SETTLEMENT
Diarrhoea that has been raging in Chepang settlement at Ghattekhola of Sarikhet VDC-4 for the past three days has affected more than 40 chepangs. The serious diarrhoea patients have been taken to the Manahari market for treatment. Diarrhoea has hit mostly the children and elderly people.
The locals have demanded health workers and medicines in the diarrhoea-hit settlement.
Source: Kantipur; Nepal Samacharpatra, 25 SeptemberHOUSEHOLD METHOD ON WATER PURIFICATION
The Butwal municipality has started to give training to the city denizens about the household methods on water purification as 90 percent of the waterborne diseases can be controlled by drinking safe water. The city denizens are compelled to drink filthy water of the Tinau River without treatment for the past long time due to negligence of the Nepal Water Supply Corporation Butwal branch. According to the research conducted by Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), water from the source is 83.33 per cent pure but pipeline supplied water is only 50 percent pure. According to private and government hospitals of Butwal, 70 percent out the total patients visiting the hospitals for treatment are patients suffering from waterborne diseases. Senior official of the Butwal municipality Bishnu Khanal told that the municipality is educating the city denizens about the household water disinfection techniques as the municipality does not have enough money and technique to treat the source water right away. “The household water disinfection techniques are cheap, easy and reliable,” he added.
The municipality has already given training about the household water disinfection techniques including SODIS, boiling, filtration and chlorination to the ward secretary, community workers, women health workers and tole improvement committees in the fist phase. Officer of community branch at the municipality Damodar Gyawali said, “We have given priority to SODIS and filtration among the water disinfection techniques as they are easier and safer.”
Source: Kantipur, 25 SeptemberCIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATION ON SACOSAN
A consultation programme with civil society representatives was organized in the conference room of Industry and Commerce Association, Narayangadh on September 23, 2008 for the preparation of third South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN). In the programme organized in the coordination of NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation and Freshwater Action Network (FAN) Nepal, the participants have strongly demanded that the government should focus on the common issue of sanitation. The consultation programme was focused on four major themes including Sanitation and Sustainability, Sanitation and its correlation with development, Future aspects of sanitation and strengthening institutional arrangement for sanitation. Director of Guthi Anil Sthapit stressed that the civil society should play a vital role to bring improvement in the sanitation sector. Chairman of Citizen Action Forum Laxmikanta Sharma suggested that household waste should be managed at homes as there is lack of dumping site in Chitwan and household waste can be converted into wealth by making compost fertilizer from the waste. Complaining that the Nepal Government had made many commitments in the previous two SACOSAN conferences held in Dhaka and Islamabad but has not fulfilled them, executive director of NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation Prakash Amatya said, “This consultation programme is organized to raise civil society voices in the third SACOSAN conference to be held in New Delhi in the near future.” Stressing that the government should enforce strict law so that all the Nepalis will have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, general secretary of Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal Indra Tamang told that there should be separate line of budget for sanitation. Secretary of ‘Nepal Basobas Basti Samraksyan Samiti’ Hari Pariyar expressed his view that the government should include remote and squatter settlements for the success of the campaign of making Chitwan a model district in sanitation sector. SACOSAN is a South Asian Ministerial level conference with the objectives of improving the sanitation situation in the region. SACOSAN has become an important part of the policy debate in South Asia, providing an opportunity for national and regional level lobbying. The first SACOSAN was held in Dhaka of Bangladesh in 2003 and the second in Islamabad of Pakistan in 2006. The third SACOSAN will be held in November in New Delhi, India.
Source: Gorkhapatra; Loktantra Sandesh National Daily; Kayakairan National Daily; Chitwan Post Daily, 24 September; Annapurna Post, 25 September (Retrieved from www.ngoforum.net)MELAMCHI WATER SUPPLY PROJECT TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN FIVE YEARS
The management of the controversial Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP), which has been virtually at a standstill for more than a decade, says that it can now be completed 'within the next five years' after a loan from the Asian Development Bank. The project, which includes tunneling 26 kilometres through a mountain to ease chronic water shortages in Kathmandu, has encountered problems with local residents, donors, financiers and contractors. It has, however, been given a new lease of life after the ADB agreed to lend it 137 million dollars in February. An agreement has been reached with residents of the affected areas, which includes a social upliftment programme. Project chief Hariram Koirala says that the programme, which has a budget of six million dollars, fulfils the residents' rights to education, health, electricity and income and ensures a buffer zone for conservation and agriculture. Residents' committees have been legalised and given powers within the project, such as the right to choose contractors and manage resources. This encourages their sense of ownership and responsibility and has, according to Koirala, brought all conflicts to an end.
Source: Source Weekly, IRC, 1 September
:: GLOBAL NEWS ::
STUDY LINKS CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS TO INCREASED AIR POLLUTION DEATHS
A model created by Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson estimates that for every 1 degree Celsius increase in global temperature caused by carbon dioxide, the world will experience upwards of 20,000 additional air pollution-related deaths per year.
Specifically, it determines the amounts of ozone and airborne particles (common causes of respiratory and cardiovascular disease) that result from temperature increases caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions. Noting that increasing levels of CO2 cause temperature and water vapor content to rise, Jacobson uses photochemistry to determine that these factors independently feed back to increase ground-level ozone concentrations.Some of the most interesting results include:
- Higher temperatures due to CO2 increased the chemical rate of ozone production in urban areas.
- CO2 also increased water vapor in urban areas, boosting temperatures even more.
- Air temperatures rose more rapidly than did ground temperatures, which changed the vertical temperature profile and decreased pollution dispersion, concentrating pollution near where it formed.
About 40 percent of these deaths may result from elevated ground-level ozone concentrations. The rest are likely from particles, which would increase due to CO2-enhanced stability, humidity, and biogenic feedbacks. The author notes that many of these deaths would occur in urban populations subject to smog, as are residents of some areas of California. Extrapolating U.S. deaths to global population yields about 22,000 excess deaths expected worldwide each year.
Source: www.hedon.info/newsEMISSIONS RISING FASTER THIS DECADE THAN LAST
The latest figures on the global carbon budget to be released in Washington and Paris today indicate a four-fold increase in growth rate of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions since 2000. “This is a concerning trend in light of global efforts to curb emissions,” says Global Carbon Project (GCP) Executive-Director, Dr Pep Canadell, a carbon specialist based at CSIRO in Canberra.
Source: CSIRO News Flash, 26 SeptemberTOILET TRAINED
Bindeshwar Pathak is immaculately dressed in a Nehru coat, sitting at the table of the executive suite at a Kathmandu hotel. His assistant gives him a glass flask from which he scoops out a gray-brown dust. "This is dried human excreta," he says, watching closely if the reporter flinches. It's hard not to. Then he holds out a bottle of clear water, screws open the top and offers it to a visitor to sniff. "This water is from the digester and is full of nutrients, it is an excellent fertiliser," he says. Pathak is India's "Mr. Toilet"—the man who has gone boldly forth where no man wants to tread. Single-handedly over 30 years, he has installed 1.4 million toilets in homes that didn't have any, 6,500 pay-to-use public loos in cities across India and provided employment for female scavengers. For his single-minded obsession with public hygiene through his oganisation called Sulabh, Pathak has been awarded Padma Bhusan in India and has been put on the Global 500 Roll of Honour by the United Nations Environment Program.
"It used to be very difficult in the beginning to get people to talk about toilets," Pathak told Nepali Times on a visit to Kathmandu last week, "but slowly people realized what a disgrace it was that so many people were forced to defecate in the open, the hardships this caused women and the impact this was having on public health." Indeed, Mahatma Gandhi was so conscious of this when he came to India from South Africa that he once said he wanted to "clean India first, independence can come later". At that time, 75 percent of Indians did not have access to proper toilets. Pathak, as it turned out, became the most effective Gandhian in turning hygiene into a national campaign after launching Sulabh toilets in Bihar in 1970.
Since then, Sulabh has worked in liberating 'low' caste women scavengers who make a living collecting night soil. It arranged alternative employment for them and making their work less hazardous. Today Sulabh's design for twin-pit composting toilet has been replicated across the world, and Pathak is exploring the possibility of setting up a string of public toilets in Kathmandu using his sustainable pay-per-use model. Sulabh's latest toilet models generate methane for streetlights and kitchen stoves; the spent slurry is dried for use as fertiliser. A modern flush toilet uses only two litres of water instead of the usual five litres. Sulabh also runs a Toilet Museum in New Delhi where among the exhibits is the toilet used by Louis XIV and the first water closet invented in the 19th century by Thomas Crapper.
"In a country like Nepal, educating people and improving sanitation is the best thing you can do for public health, especially to prevent unnecessary childhood deaths," says Pathak, "talking about good hygiene and sanitation is nothing to be ashamed about."
Source: Nepalitimes, 19-25 SeptemberAIR POLLUTION AFFECTING ONES SENSE OF SMELL
Losing one's sense of smell isn't as medically worrisome as shortness of breath and aggravated heart conditions. But it's another indication of the diminished quality of life that can come from congestion and pollution. To the list of air pollution's health effects, add another one: loss of sense of smell. Mexico City residents can't detect subtle smells as well as residents of neighboring Tlaxcala, researchers at Mexico's National University (UNAM) have reported, though the regions are quite similar in both culture and climate. The primary difference: Mexico City has much higher levels of air pollution. EMBARQ, the WRI Center for Sustainable Transport, recently traveled to Mexico City to report on this phenomenon. Globally, the two air pollutants that present the biggest health problems are ozone and particulate matter such as dust, smoke, or haze. Well-studied health effects of both include respiratory irritation, difficulty breathing, and reduced lung function. But this new research demonstrates that there are some effects of air pollution still unknown to us, only revealed as pollution reaches ever higher levels. 'We're only picking up these problems in recent years,' says Robyn Hudson, a biomedical researcher at UNAM. So the long-term effects of this quantity of pollution will likely be more serious than any we've yet seen.
Source: http://www.hedon.info/goto.php/view/1204/news.htm accessed on July 31st 2008
::UPCOMING EVENTS ::
COUPLING SUSTAINABLE SANITATION AND GROUNDWATER PROTECTION
Symposium to the International Year of Sanitation (IYS) 2008
October 14 - 17, 2008, Hannover, GermanyOrganised by: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) (Germany), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (Germany) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The Symposium will focus on applicable solutions for the protection of groundwater against anthropogenic domestic effluents in the context of developing countries. It will address the gap between technical approaches and political challenges and provide a forum for international decision makers to get in contact with practitioners. This will help the political level to recognise planning challenges and find practical solutions for sustainable sanitation.
Contact: BGR, symposium2008@bgr.de, Dr. Thomas Himmelsbach, tel.: +49-511-6433794 or Andrea Wachtler, tel.: +49-511-6432985
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