Back to news
11 Apr 2017 | Blog

Waist-High In Wastewater

Nuvodita Singh

1 min Read

70% Complete
Photo Credit: Eklavya Prasad, MEGH PYNE ABHIYAN

A colleague and I were discussing the theme for this year’s World Water Day – Wastewater. Immediately my mind conjured images of industries and factories churning out chemical laden waste, of urban sewage systems, and of frothy rivers as a result. The common themes running through all these images are- ‘Structure’, ‘Organization’, and ‘Linear Systems’.

These systems are designed to take wastewater away for disposal from its original source of production so that the order of mundane operations can be maintained, notwithstanding the occasional spanner in the works. A useful response to the ill effects of these operations is the implementation of infrastructure such as wastewater treatment plants that essentially create ‘feedback loops’ in an otherwise linear system and help further the cause of the ‘circular economy’. This is easy to visualize for an urban setting where the ‘building blocks’ such as procurement of land, labour, and resources are already in place, or at least available at hand. It is also a very sustainable pathway for urban development.

But what of communities far removed from these cityscapes? What of rural settings that might be relatively disorganized, or informal settlements marked by the absence of those ‘building blocks’, or any structural sewage or waste disposal system? Let us look at ‘Exhibit A’, Naya Tola Bishambharpur (NTB), a small village in the floodplains of Bihar’s West Champaran district.

<<READ MORE>>

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Content

Continue exploring this topic

23 Feb 2017 Blog
Management of local crop diversity: a concern

The Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI), with support from the District Agriculture Development Office, organized a local ...

29 Mar 2019 Blog
A bumpy ride to Paro

It is not often that one sees a series of lightning bolts across the runway followed by bone-chilling thunder while ...

2 Aug 2019 Cryosphere
Keeping track of our melting glaciers

I have been part of expeditions to the Khumbu Glacier in the Everest region since 2016. It is quite a ...

14 Aug 2017 Blog
It’s not just about the Money – a Story from Rasuwa, Nepal

Lower-income Nepalese youth have improved their earning capacity by opting for foreign employment, working as migrant labourers. Working in countries ...

2 May 2019 Blog
Promoting SPIPs with a gendered focus paying dividends

Solar-powered irrigation pumps (SPIPs) are visibly helping balance gender inequalities in agricultural participation and access to finance and land ownership ...

11 Apr 2017 Blog
Reviving the dying tradition of dug wells in Potohar

Dug wells have been the only source of water for many areas in the Potohar region for ages. Agriculture is ...

8 Mar 2019 Gender in Koshi
Balance for better: Community enterprise for strengthening women entrepreneurship in Nepal

Business has largely been dominated by men across the world, and Nepal is no exception. Women usually need to be ...

16 Apr 2019 Blog
Women: the hidden face of effective emissions mitigation?

Women as researchers as well as the vital subject Household-level combustion accounts for a significant percentage of air pollution ...