Pakistan: environment ministry finalises drinking water standards

The Ministry of Environment has finalised the standards for drinking water [...] as part of the National Action Plan to implement the National Drinking Water Policy approved by the Federal Cabinet in September 2009.

Sources mentioned the absence of the environment minister [following the resignation of Hamidullah Jan Afridias] the reason for delay in the notification of the standards, as they are to be approved by the Environment Council.

Director General Environment Javed Ali Khan [said] that the ministry is moving fast to prepare an action plan, as it has already asked the provinces to prepare their strategies in line with the National Drinking Water Policy.

“We are preparing the Action Plan while the standards are ready for approval and notification thereafter,” he said. “The ministry consulted all stakeholders to identify the permissible purity level and these standards will be implemented across the country once approved by the Council,” he said.

To a question regarding the working mechanism, the DG said under the Action Plan, a monitoring mechanism would be strengthened, the data of water purification would be prepared regularly and the capacity of various departments would be built to ensure proper purification.

“It will be a long term and multi-dimensional strategy where different methods will be exploited to purify drinking water,” he said. “Curtailing pollutants to a permissible limit is our top priority and we are focusing on it,” he said.

He mentioned installation of purification plants at large water storages and use of medication method to purify water at small-scale storages like overhead tanks and pipe water. “A continuous water testing mechanism will also be in place once the plan enters the implementation phase,” he said.

{B]illions of rupees [are lost] every year due to water borne diseases. According to a World Bank report, water and sanitation related diseases alone cost the kitty Rs120 billion [US$ 1.44 billion] annually in terms of poor health and ailment.

Source: The News, 19 Nov 2009

Bangladesh: ponds ’caused arsenic’ contamination, MIT study says

Man-made ponds may be responsible for widespread arsenic contamination of ground water affecting millions of people in Bangladesh, a new study says [1].

Rebecca Neumann hangs off the end of bamboo scaffolding built at the field site. Assisted by a man hired from a nearby village, she is connecting a tube that will run from the surface water in the rice field up to a higher point on the scaffolding. Photo: Sarah Jane White, MIT

Researchers in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering believe they have pinpointed a pathway by which arsenic may be contaminating the drinking water in Bangladesh, a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists, world health agencies and the Bangladeshi government for nearly 30 years.

The research suggests that human alteration to the landscape, the construction of villages with ponds, and the adoption of irrigated agriculture are responsible for the current pattern of arsenic concentration underground.

In 2002, a research team led by Charles Harvey, the Doherty Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT, had determined that microbial metabolism of organic carbon was mobilizing the arsenic off the soils and sediments, and that crop irrigation was almost certainly playing a role in the process. But the exact sources of the contaminated water have remained elusive, until now.

Around 25m people in the country have been exposed to arsenic through water. Experts have described the situation as the worst mass poisoning of a population in history.

Man-made ponds – often dug with the help of international aid agencies – were originally created to protects villagers from unclean water.

The arsenic enters water supplies from agricultural and industrial waste or from natural deposits in the ground.

A Bangladeshi farmer shows the effects of arsenic poisoning. Photo: BBC

Around two million people in Bangladesh suffer from arsenic poisoning. Chronic ingestion of small doses has been linked to cancer of the bladder, kidney, lung or skin, while large doses can kill immediately.

Arsenic contamination of ground water is a global problem and has occurred in other countries such as Argentina, Chile, China, India, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

But the gravity of the contamination in Bangladesh is unprecedented. Millions of Bangladeshis knowingly poison themselves because there is often no alternative water source. Harvey estimates that the incidence of death from arsenic-induced cancer will rise to approximately 3,000 cases per year if consumption of contaminated water continues.

Scott Fendorf, a professor at Stanford University who studies arsenic content in soils and sediments along the Mekong River in Cambodia, says Harvey’s previous research, published in 2002, “transformed the scientific community’s outlook on the problem.”

The current work, he adds, has two big ramifications: “It shows that human modifications are impacting the arsenic content in the groundwater; and that while the rice cropping system appears to be buffering the arsenic, the ponds excavated to provide fill to build up the villages are having a negative impact on the release of arsenic.”

Harvard scientist and co-author of the study Rebecca Neumann said that arsenic contamination could be avoided by digging deeper drinking water wells below the ponds.

Charles F. Harvey. Photo: MIT

Harvey and a team of environmental scientists and physicians are making plans for a multi-year study that would provide deep wells for two villages in Bangladesh whose inhabitants suffer from arsenic poisoning. There they would combine continual testing of the well water and hydrogeological modeling of the groundwater system with a study of how the clean water effects the villagers’ health, placing special emphasis on the neurological development of children.

“There are all sorts of studies to show how arsenic hurts people. We’re trying to turn it around and show how removal of the arsenic will help them,” says Harvey.

[1] Neuman, R.B. … [et al.] (2009). Anthropogenic influences on groundwater arsenic concentrations in Bangladesh. Nature Geoscience. Published online: 15 November 2009 | doi:10.1038/ngeo685

Source: BBC, 15 Nov 2009 ; ScienceDaily, 15 Nov 2009; MIT, 15 Nov 2009

Indonesia: WASH concerns a month after Sumatra quake

Thousands of survivors of an earthquake that devastated Indonesia’s West Sumatra Province are still grappling with a lack of clean water and adequate sanitation more than a month after the disaster, relief workers say.

Aid agencies are delivering clean water to survivors by truck, but it is insufficient unless water sources damaged by the earthquake on 30 September [2009] are restored, said Endang Trisna, programme coordinator for Mercy Corps. “Water pumps in many houses have been damaged and wells are contaminated with sand and dirt. Some residents have no access at all to clean water”.

Trisna said Mercy Corps was [aiming to help 10,000 households] fix their water sources and providing treatment facilities, as well as building latrines and distributing hygiene kits in Padang Pariaman and Agam districts, among the worst hit by the earthquake.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its 3 November report that funding for transitional shelter, water and sanitation, and agriculture activities was still urgently needed to bridge the gap into the recovery phase.

According to the report, 600,000 people in Padang, the provincial capital, will be reliant on water trucks until year-end.

There are also 4,000 displaced people in three camps in Agam and about 4,000 in six camps in Padang Pariaman who are being supported with water and sanitation activities.

The government declared a recovery phase from 1 November [2009] in all but Padang Pariaman and Agam, home to the camps, where the emergency phase continues because sanitation is particularly poor. The camps are providing shelter for some of the thousands of people displaced by landslides triggered by the earthquake, said Tanty Pranawisanty, Mercy Corps emergency response team leader.

The government is expected to announce its rehabilitation and reconstruction action plan on 15 November, the OCHA report stated.

Ade Edward, head of West Sumatra’s disaster coordinating agency, said piped water had been restored in 60 percent of households in Padang, while about 1,000 temporary shelters had been built by aid groups.

But he admitted that living conditions for people displaced in Agam and Padang Pariaman were still far from normal.

Funding gap

UNICEF, said aid groups have complained they lacked funds to deliver water but stressed that the situation would not threaten the emergency relief effort.

“Aid agencies have been helping with the supply of water bladders and other equipment, but the operational cost is being paid by the local tap water company,” said Lely Djuhari, a spokeswoman for UNICEF Indonesia.

Source: IRIN, 04 Nov 2009

Nepal: menstruation a bugbear for schoolgirls

Rural women in Nepal, especially schoolgirls, are still treated as untouchables during menstruation, resulting in health problems and growing absenteeism.

Social Development Advisor of WaterAid Nepal Om Prasad Gautam says, “Menstrual hygiene is neglected and people do not wish to explore this subject as it is still considered a social taboo.”

Moreover, hygiene is neglected by girls, especially in the rural areas, due to lack of availability and inability to afford sanitary napkins. In a study conducted by WaterAid Nepal in four schools of Nepal, it was observed that the use of sanitary pads is higher among girls in urban schools (50%) in comparison to rural (19%), which clearly mentions that family income affects the use of sanitary napkins.

Schoolgirls also refrain from going to toilets because there is no lock, no water and no disposal facility. They are also seen to avoid going to toilets during menstruation as most schools do not have separate latrines for girls. According to Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), only 41% of schools in Nepal have latrines with only 26% of schools having separate latrines for girls.

Menstruation is the major contributing factor in absenteeism and poor academic performance among schoolgirls. Girls often remain absent and drop out of schools because of bad sanitation facilities in schools. In WaterAid´s study, some girls ailed by constant worries, though physically present in the school, were seen to be performing poorly.

“Many girls remain absent for 4 days a month during their menstruation cycle,” Anita Pradhan, Documentation Manager of WaterAid Nepal said, adding, “Remaining absent in school for 48 days a year is a huge loss for students.”

According to a survey conducted by Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) in 7 schools, 94 percent girls went to school but 6 percent remained absent during their menstruation period.

Furthermore, religious and cultural taboos concerning menstruating girls have prevented women from being independent actors. Gautam says he was surprised to find that the girls were asked to not touch water, touch food in the kitchen and not walk through the road near a temple by their mothers.

A girl from Kathmandu shared that her family didn´t celebrate Dashain and Tihar after she looked in a mirror during her menstruation period, as this would bring bad luck.”

Menstrual hygiene has thus a vital aspect of health education and television programs, health officers, teachers and parents can play a very important role in transmitting a message of proper menstrual hygiene. This would save them from many health hazards. Currently, organizations like NEWAH, Lumanti and ENPHO have been working to bring about changes in this sector by spreading awareness on menstruation hygiene.

Related publication: WaterAid (2009). Is menstrual hygiene and management an issue for adolescent school girls?. Kathmandu, Nepal, WaterAid. Full report

Source: Mimansha Joshi, Republica, 29 Oct 2009

Nepal: anti-corruption authority slams water authority for tender irregularities

The Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has claimed that the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) has committed irregularities in the supply and delivery of ductile iron pipes fitting and MS pipes. Issuing a press release, the CIAA has said while awarding the contract, the NWSC had not properly called the tender-bid.

It accused that the technologies used in the iron pipes were not of standard level. The Nepal Water Supply Corporation has not made any provision for making the registration of its tender-bid at the NWSC Butwal Branch and failed to open tender-bid at its central office. Moreover, the irregularities have also been seen after the period of bid validity and bank guarantee was extended. The task of purchasing pipes and fitting supplies too was full of shortcomings. So, the CIAA has directed the NWSC not to commit such mistakes while awarding tender-bids to the suppliers and make all its financial dealings transparent.

The CIAA is also investigating irregularities at Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL). Complaints have been filed at CIAA about the irregularities in water supply from the Bode Treatment Plant of the company. The investigation was started after the CIAA got information of involvement of chiefs of the company, branch office and distribution section for making unequal distribution of water through its different branches and supplying water in different areas after collecting money illegally.

KUKL staff are objecting to the appointment of former legal officer at the KUKL Hemraj Bhattarai as the CIAA investigation officer. They claim that many irregularities took place while Bhattarai was in office and that he could misuse the investigation to hide his own eventual wrong doings.

But, Chief Commissioner of the CIAA Lalit Bahadur Limbu told that the Bhattarai had been sent as a technical expert. “We have sent Bhattarai for monitoring as he knows about water supply systems,” said Limbu, adding, “If there are irregularities, there will be strong investigation.”

Source: The Rising Nepal / NGO Forum, 28 Oct 2009 ; Kantipur / NGO Forum, 27 Oct 2009

Philippines: flood victims grapple with Leptospirosis

Weeks after back-to-back cyclones left nearly 1,000 people dead, the Philippines is grappling with an outbreak of a deadly flood-borne disease that has infected survivors from areas where dirty water has yet to subside, officials say.

In a report to emergency relief agencies, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said that as of 26 October, there were 2,158 confirmed cases of Leptospirosis infections, with 167 deaths reported by the National Epidemiology Centre.

With more than 120,000 people crammed into evacuation centres in Manila and outlying areas that are still submerged in putrid, stagnant water, Duque said the likelihood of more outbreaks was high.

The deaths linked to Leptospirosis – a bacterial infection caused by contact with water contaminated by rat and other animal urine – were in addition to the 929 people who died from devastation wrought by tropical storm Ketsana, which hit on 26 September, and Typhoon Parma, a week later. According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), more than nine million people were affected by the two storms.

“There is a surge in the number of hospitalized cases of Leptospirosis from among the victims of recent typhoons who have [lost] … their homes,” Duque said in a memorandum order issued last week to state-run hospitals to prioritize cases of the disease.

“Various local government units and hospitals have reported an increasing number of cases of Leptospirosis among communities that have been submerged in flood waters and from among those who have been transferred to evacuation sites,” it read.

Duque said the best preventive measure to combat the disease is to drain the flooded areas and force people to move – something that government is hard-pressed to do since many areas remain inundated and some families have returned to their partly submerged homes to prevent looting.

As a stop-gap measure, he said the health department had sent teams to provide antibiotics to those infected while at the same time seeking the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) in containing the outbreak.

Private hospitals have also agreed to take in patients that state-run hospitals can no longer accommodate, Duque said.

National epidemiology chief Eric Tayag said the antibiotics were meant to cut the infection rate in half as a preventive measure.

The disease is characterized by jaundice and flu-like symptoms and ultimately renal and kidney failure, requiring dialysis.

“One out of 10 of those infected by Leptospirosis can have complications that can cause death. This includes acute renal failure,” Tayag told reporters.

WHO has dispatched a four-man team of experts to the country to help control the outbreak.

“They will be assisting the government by providing technical assessments and assistance in the surveillance, epidemiological and clinical care of those who fall sick from the disease,” said Soe Nyunt-U, WHO representative to the Philippines, noting that apart from Leptospirosis, thousands still living in evacuation camps where access to water and sanitation remain poor, are in danger of other infectious diseases.

Source: IRIN, 28 Oct 2009

Pakistan: ‘24% of country’s hospital beds occupied by waterborne disease patients’

In Pakistan, 38.5 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 50.7 million do not have the facility of proper sanitation. These high statistics result in more than 24 percent of Pakistan’s hospital beds being occupied by the people suffering from waterborne diseases. Moreover, diarrhoea is the leading cause of mortality and second leading cause of morbidity among children under five years of age, said experts at a meeting in Karachi.

Addressing the session of the first day of Aga Khan University’s 13th National Health Sciences Research Symposium on ‘Impact of Water and Sanitation on Health: Our Problems and Our Solutions“, Pakistan government Health Director General Dr Rashid Jooma said that the work being done on the water and sanitation sectors in Pakistan is not like that being done in other countries, such as India, worsening the sanitation conditions.

Jooma said that the bad sanitation conditions are not only affecting human health but the environment too. He added that the estimated cost of environmental degradation in Pakistan is Rs 365 billion per year, of which Rs 112 billion [US$ 1.34 billion] is caused by inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene conditions.

Talking about the government’s response to these challenges, including legislation and policy, and initiatives for safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, he said there are several projects in the pipeline and more is yet to be done.

Senior Architect and Urban Town Planner Arif Hassan underlined the fact that over the last 50 years the government has invested considerable money, including aid, in drinking water and sanitation programmes. However, these projects have not been successful and have increased Pakistan’s foreign debt considerably. Some NGO projects have delivered positive results but unless their methodology becomes a part of the official policy, planning and implementation procedures, they cannot be successful to the extent required for servicing the growing demand for water and sanitation. In the past two years, the government has legislated a sanitation and drinking water policy which, to be successful, will need to relate to ground realities.

[...] Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at MIT Professor Dr James Wescoat said landscape planning has an increasing role to play in helping expand household and neighbourhood water and sanitation solutions to rural and urban areas. “Environmental design has played a vital role in linking water and health, from Mohenjo Daro to Boston,” he said.

Addressing the Symposium via the Internet from India, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the Sulabh Sanitary Movement, said low-cost sanitation technology is available and by adopting these technologies, any country can improve the sanitation sector. Sharing his experience of introducing a two-pit pour flush toilet that uses only 1-1.5 litres of water, he said that the technology is flexible and affordable and can be implemented at costs starting from USD 30, depending on the quality.

AKU’s Dr Iqtidar A Khan said that in Pakistan 90 percent of water is used for agriculture and less than 10 percent for drinking and sanitation. He said the water availability has fallen from 5,000 cubic metres per capita in the early 1950s to less than 1,500 cubic metres today. Quoting the words of former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, he said that AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases will not be defeated until the battles for safe drinking water, sanitation and basic health care are won.

Source: Amar Guriro, Daily Times, 28 Oct 2009

India: Cabinet plans promise better access to water for women and minorities

Two decisions taken by the Union Cabinet promise to give better access to water for women and minorities in India.

The first decision involves in the inclusion of the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) of the Department of Drinking Water Supply in the Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities. The Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme was introduced in 2006 to ensure, wherever possible, that 15% of targets and outlays under various schemes should be earmarked for minorities.

Secondly, the Cabinet approved a proposal to increase reservation for women in urban local bodies (ULBs) from one third to fifty percent.

“Increased representation of women is likely to yield significant benefits in terms of higher priority to women’s issues in critical areas of urban Governance and service delivery such as water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, education and health,” asserted Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, while briefing reporters here on the Cabinet decision.

This provision will be applicable for the total number of seats to be filled by direct election, seats in the offices of chairpersons, including those reserved for the SC/ST category [Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes]. “There is no financial implication in operationalising the proposal,” Soni added.

Women account for nearly 43.5 percent of the urban population in the country. In August 2009, the government had approved 50 per cent reservation of seats for women in gram panchayats (rural local government bodies).

Source: PIB, 22 Oct 2009 ; Express Buzz, 23 Oct 2009

Nepal: Sanitation finally a priority

The diarrhoea that spread earlier in 2009 in 18 districts across Nepal killed nearly 300 people; nearly six months after the initial outbreak, four ministries have finally made a joint commitment to launch a massive water and sanitation campaign to meet the state’s target of providing complete sanitation to all by 2017.

“We were not able to launch all components of water and sanitation in a comprehensive manner earlier, which is why we had diarrhea-related deaths every year,” said Dr. Babu Ram Marasini, chief of health sector reform unit at the Ministry of Health.

The programme was launched on Global Handwashing Day on 15 October 2009 as a comprehensive and combined effort by the Ministries of Health, Education, Physical Planning and Works, and Local Development. The programme will see extension of the construction of latrines in all 75 districts, awareness programmes, establishment of a national sanitation fund among others, according to Kamal Adhikari, an official at the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage. Adhikari also said that the ministries have planned to review the existing policies to provide complete sanitation to all by 2017.

According to a report by WaterAid, about 14.2 million people do not have access to sanitation and 7.1 million lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation in the country; similarly, according to the Ministry of Health, 54 percent of the country does not have access to latrines. Likewise, only 37 percent wash their hands, and only 12 percent use soap. Also, 45 percent of deaths caused by avoidable diseases is because of unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation. “Earlier, we used to implement programmes related to water and sanitation separately but we are now planning to go ahead in a joint and comprehensive manner,” said Adhikari.

Source: The Kathmandu Post; The Rising Nepal; Gorkhapatra; Naya Patrika; Annapurna Post; Kantipur; Nepal Samacharpatra / NGO Forum, 15 Oct 2009

Nepal, Mustang: India funds monastic school water supply in sensitive area near Tibet

During a visit to Mustang, Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood inaugurated a new water tank for a monsatic school, the Shree Mahakaruna Sakyapa Vidyalaya in Lomangthan, Upper Mustang. A Maoist newspaper claimed that the real reason for Sood’s visit was to spy on China.

The Government of India had earlier provided a grant of NRs. 2.51 crores [US$ 341,000] for the construction of school building, hostel, monk’s quarter and teacher’s quarter, which was completed in October, 2006. India has now provided additional grant of NRs.10.88 lakhs [US$ 15,000] for the construction of a water tank to to solve to school’s water supply problem. The project is funded under the India-Nepal Economic Cooperation Programme, which has an outlay over 2560 crores.

Ambassador Rakesh Sood. Photo Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Neapal

Mustang, Nepal’s northernmost district, was part of an ancient Tibetan kingdom in the past and shares a border with Tibet. In the past, after China invaded Tibet, the Buddhist kingdom’s Khampa soldiers loyal to the Dalai Lama had waged a guerrilla war against the Chinese rulers from Mustang.

China remains anxious about Mustang and in the recent past, the Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Qiu Guhong, had also visited the district.

“A jumbo Indian team including envoy Rakesh Sood arrived in the mountainous district of Mustang Friday to spy on China in the name of inspecting the progress of the development projects funded by the Indian government,” Nepali daily Janadisha, the Maoist mouthpiece, said. It also said that the team was in Mustang to assess the influence of the Chinese government in the area.

The ambassador, who was scheduled to go trekking in Mustang after the handover ceremonies, however cut his visit short and headed for Kathmandu Tuesday. It was not known immediately if his return was the fallout of the Maoist propaganda.

Source: Embassy of India in Nepal, 13 Oct 2009 ; Times of India, 13 Oct 2009