Catalog

Cleaner Streets
ADB Review [ January - February 2004 ]

Ensuring that streets and lanes are free from sewage is critical for good urban sanitation. The state government of Rajasthan, India, is working to mitigate urban infrastructure problems in six major cities—Ajmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, and Udaipur—thanks in part to a $250 million loan from the Asian Development Bank.

About half of urban households do not have individual latrines in their homes and only 5% of homes are connected to a sewerage network.

“The unplanned and unchecked conditions in the urban slums also need to be addressed to make the environment of the cities more tourist friendly,” says Manoj Sharma, Project Director, Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Project.

For example, about 50,000 households in the capital city of Jaipur are being connected to ensure that streets and lanes are free from liquid waste flowing from the drainage. So far, 10% of the targeted households have been connected.

Puspha Kandelva, a resident of the Nagtalai Slum, says that for the past 15 years, her family and other residents have been exposed to garbage and filth due to improper sanitation and drainage outlets. “It is a much better environment in which we are living now, especially for the women who work at home. Our children are also healthier,” she says. Most women in the community are employed at home by local goldsmiths to break precious stones that are used in designing jewelry.

Navaratnam Baid says that it was previously unthinkable to set foot on the lane behind their homes because it was covered with liquid waste and filth. “Now there are less flies and mosquitoes, and the environment does not stink.”

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