SBM-Gramin data shows no STPs, desludging vehicles in villages, raising questions over sanitation success claims
PANAJI
Goa's much-publicised sanitation achievements under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) Phase II have been dealt a reality check, with official records exposing a startling failure in key faecal waste management benchmarks despite the State claiming near-universal ODF Plus coverage.
Data available on the SBM-G Phase II dashboard shows that while Goa has 373 villages under the ODF Plus programme, the State has achieved zero villages linked to Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs) or Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) against targeted villages.
The data further shows zero desludging vehicles and zero GPS-enabled desludging vehicles, raising questions about how faecal sludge from septic tanks is being scientifically managed in rural areas.
The figures assume significance as Goa recently announced that 325 villages have attained ODF Plus Model status, a claim that has already come under question after verification data showed less than half cleared the first round of verification and none passed the second-level audit.
Yet another glaring gap is in household-level greywater management. Against a total rural household base of 2.61 lakh households, only 10,894 households, or 5.65 per cent, are covered by household-level Grey Water Management (GWM) assets. Kitchen gardens, another component of greywater reuse, cover just 669 households, accounting for a mere 0.61 per cent.
As per the Ministry, under the programme, wastewater management is one of the key components of ODF Plus. It seeks to address the unsafe disposal of wastewater that can lead to stagnation, overflow onto the village paths or pollute water bodies.
SBM-G Phase II prioritises the management of greywater preferably by simple techniques and on-site management or community-level or village-level GWM systems.
The State's sanitation achievements appear to be largely driven by community infrastructure, with 1.45 lakh households, or 52.11 per cent, covered through community GWM structures and drainage systems. The SBM dashboard also indicates that 12 urban STPs are using co-treatment facilities. However, rural villages remain unconnected to treatment systems, resulting in a target achievement of zero per cent for village linkage to FSTPs/STPs.
The ODF Plus status is intended to go beyond eliminating open defecation and requires sustainable management of both solid and liquid waste, including safe treatment and disposal of faecal sludge.
