The operational guidelines for the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM II) were released by the Department of water and Sanitation (DDWS) under the Union Ministry of Jal (water) Shakti on May 2020. the rules hold significance because the country deals with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The dumping of untreated faecal sludge has destroyed surface and well water. Safe toilets, with well-managed black and gray water, are the necessity of the hour, particularly in rural areas where on-site sanitation is that the only solution.
The guidelines speak about building more toilets or community toilet complexes to not leave anybody out. They also mention availability of adequate water or storage facilities of water for these toilets.
They, however, don’t mention clearly how water availability to toilets are going to be connected.
Bottlenecks over the supply of water in toilets and solutions to form the mission a hit don’t seem to be explained either. there’s only a mention of recharging groundwater by greywater.
Gram Panchayats should converge village action plans (VAP) for SBM and Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), in keeping with the rules.
“Greywater management in villages should be planned in consonance with piped water system already provided to villages / planned to be provided under JJM or the other state schemes,” the rules said.
The VAP for SBM and JJM should be a part of their overall gram panchayat development plans, the rules said.
The DDWS, in September 2019, released a 10-year strategy (2019-29) on SBM II. The strategy focussed on proper implementation of solid and liquid waste management (SLWM) — plastic waste, organic waste, grey water, and faecal sludge — in rural areas.
The new guidelines were finalised during this direction. They means that first SBM I made the country’s districts open-defecation free (ODF) in October 2019.
The Union government approved SBM II and a complete outlay of Rs 1,40,881 crore was allocated in February 2020 for the sustainability of the ODF state and SLWM.
An interesting feature of the rules is how the financing of SBM II are done through convergence of various Central and state schemes.
The programme are going to be implemented in close coordination and convergence with:
1 JJM for greywater management.
2 Finance Commission funds for co-financing of assets.
3 National Rural Employment Guarantee Act for dovetailing funds and functionaries.
4 Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for skill development of field functionaries.
5 National Rural Livelihood Mission for involving self-help groups as vehicles for behaviour change communication.
6 New National Biogas Organic Manure Programme scheme of the Union Ministry of recent and Renewable Energy.
7 Sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation scheme of Union Ministry of Petroleum and fossil fuel for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan projects.
8 States can identify the other schemes at their level and converge them to confirm attainment of SBM II objectives, in keeping with the rules.
The convergence of schemes didn’t add the building of the toilets. This created a bottleneck within the progress of the bathroom construction. Concern, thus, remains on working of the convergence of schemes within the implementation of SLWM projects.
SBM II are going to be implemented during a mission mode between 2020-2021 and 2024-25, Parameswaran Iyer, secretary within the DDWS said, in keeping with the rules. Iyer said the rules are often adapted in step with local conditions and requirements.
