Researchers and public health practitioners have laid emphasis on “socially inclusive” services for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for the urban poor in order to strengthen the connect between local communities and government authorities for removing barriers in accessing resources and facilities.
The recommendation was made at an event held here recently for releasing the findings of a baseline survey of 11 settlements, comprising 1,118 households, in four zones of Jaipur.
The survey was aimed at finding out the status of WASH services and existing practices that determined community behaviour.
While 62% of the households reported that they had piped water, 84.7% had a toilet within their premises. About 11.5% of the households received subsidy under the Swachh Bharat Mission for construction of toilets and only 10.64% reported door-to-door waste collection.
Rakhee Badhwar of the Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) said the human cost of weak WASH services would be unbearable during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
