Sanitation
CURE believes that every household should have access to a private toilet in their home. In overcrowded slum settlements with space constraints, small group or large community toilets with community managed O&M systems are the next best option. In addition to providing open-defecation free settlements, toilets reduce incidence of ill health, improve safety for women and girls, and enhance human dignity. Community inclusion during planning, implementation, and oversight of construction, operation and management systems forms a cornerstone of CURE’s total sanitation work.
Appropriate wastewater disposal is essential for improving environmental sanitation in slum communities. CURE’s team of engineers and architects has designed and constructed or improved surface drains with outfalls. These have been linked to a Decentralized Waste Water Treatment System (DEWAT) to treat the sullage before it is discharged into the river or reused.
To improve the efficiency of waste collection and disposal, CURE helps set up door-to-door solid waste collection, household waste segregation and appropriate disposal as part of solid waste management systems. Neighbourhood sanitation committees assist with implementation and community clean-up drives. Hygiene practices and behaviour change is also promoted through community and school awareness campaigns.
CURE also provides technical support to local governments in developing Detailed Project Reports for sanitation projects with meticulous engineering designs and bill of quantities. It has helped design network systems for sewerage for Savda Ghevra resettlement area in Delhi in association with DJB and MCD engineers.
CURE uses a community-based total sanitation approach to address the following key sanitation challenges:
- Access to toilets – household, small group or community
- Waste water – drainage, treatment of grey water and disposal
- Solid waste management – door-to-door collection systems and disposal
- Hygiene behaviour and practices