Indore, a city ranked 149th for cleanliness just a short time ago in 2014, is now regarded as India’s cleanest city, a title that residents hold with pride. How did such a city improve its environmental health to such a staggering degree? Just a few short years ago, Indore, a commercial hub of Madya […]
Sanitation
Spike in water-borne diseases in Hyderabad
Hyderabad is reporting a spike in water-borne diseases, sparking fears of water contamination. Diarrhoeal disease, viral hepatitis, and typhoid have all been reported in the Telangana state capital. At the time of writing, 16,178 people have fallen ill with diarrhoea and 1,301 are afflicted with typhoid fever. Viral hepatitis, meanwhile, is believed to have affected […]
High risk of water-borne diseases following the monsoon
Water-borne diseases such as cholera are a scourge to India all year round. The monsoon season, however, creates a greater degree of vulnerability due to the extent to which water sources are contaminated. Only forty percent of India’s toilet waste is properly treated upon disposal. This fact alone is perhaps the most concerning driver […]
Death in the sewers: Manual scavenging continues to kill
In the first six months of 2019, at least fifty people died because of manual scavenging – in just eight states. This is according to data collected from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) from Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. The fatalities offer a snapshot of a much […]
Delhi cracks down on biomedical waste
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has ordered the closure of 32 facilities over improper disposal of biomedical waste – highlighting a major pollution and sanitation issue affecting India. Earlier this year, it was reported that hospitals in Delhi were behind schedule in adhering to the Union Environment Ministry’s guidelines concerning proper management of biomedical […]
A Mumbai beer plant brewing a public health issue?
United Breweries is India’s biggest producer of beer – but an inspection has found stunning sanitation lapses. The brewing giant, which claims to account for more than fifty percent of beer production in India and saw its revenue grow by 21 percent in the 2018 financial year, was flagged on several concerning grounds by the […]
Menstrual cups: A viable alternative?
Menstrual cups have the potential to be a safe, effective, and significantly more environmentally friendly way for girls and women to manage their menstrual health, a study released today has found. Analysing data from 43 studies involving 3,319 participants, covering a mixture of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries, the study found that […]
In Gurugram, poor sanitation makes residents’ lives a misery
Gurugram officials are on notice from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to act on the pollution of water. “Unscientific discharge of sewage into open water bodies [is] adversely affecting groundwater and recipient waterbodies at Ansal Esencia, Sector 67 area of Gurugram,” the NGT said in an order to the Haryana State Pollution Control Board and […]
Water supply crisis hits Chennai’s hospitals
Chennai’s crippled water supply is affecting everyday life in a multitude of ways. Hospitals are no exception to the scourge. The depletion of groundwater and borewell reserves have forced hospitals in the city to foot ever-bigger bills to avail water. To cope, some hospitals have even increased the prices of operations. “A few days ago, […]
Hospital infections: What can be done?
Hospitals, by nature of their function, are hotbeds of infectious disease. It is no wonder then that hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are such a common phenomenon. Hospitals are full of individuals with a heightened risk of infection. Whether this is through immunocompromising conditions or due to the individuals being elderly, many are at risk in this […]