Improving Sanitation Facilities

Local Leadership Essential

By Khilendra Basnyat

SANITATION comprises all phases of programmes for improving health. In fact, sanitation is essential to prevent diseases by creating a healthy environment.

Important Role

Among the several factors that affect health of every individual, sanitation is the one that plays an important role. This is obvious from the fact that in developed countries people are rarely attacked by diseases emanating from dirty things and have better health that the people of developing ones. However, the people of developing countries should usually fight against intestinal diseases. They often become the victims of the diseases occurring from dirt.

There is a deep impact of sanitation on communicable diseases. Studies in several countries have also shown that there can be a great reduction in diarrhoeal disease by better water supply and sanitary facilities.

According to a United Nations study, it has been evident that over a period of five years the sanitary facilities for human waste disposal can reduce the incidence of cholera by seventy-six per cent.

The chief reason why sanitation and access to an adequate and safe water supply are considered so important is the need to secure human health. A research has made clear that over fifty infections can be transferred from a diseased person to a healthy one by various direct or indirect routes involving excreta.

There are only a few urban excreta disposal system in developing countries that are well maintained and operated in order to provide consistently effective sewage disposal. Apart from this, there are many slum areas and squatter settlements in these countries in which sanitation is not only lacking, but where over-congestion and poverty defeat most plans for improvement.

In developing countries like ours, many people die prematurely due to excreta related diseases. According to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), diarrhoea caused by lack of safe water and sanitation directly kills six million people every year.

In accordance with another survey conducted by WHO in 1980, fifty seven per cent of the Third World's population, excluding the people's Republic of China, were without adequate water supply and seventy-five per cent were without sanitation facilities. In rural areas, it was found out that seventy-five per cent were deprived of adequate excreta disposal facilities.

The full benefit of safe water will not be obtained without the provision of basic sanitation of primary health care.

That Nepal and the Nepalese people are having to bear high economic and health costs due to the lack of sanitation and hygiene is undebatable. Water and sanitation related diseases have caused an unfair impact on the Nepalese's health.

Inadequate sanitation facilities in Nepal have been one of the major causes for the incidence of infectious diseases on a large scale. Our high infant mortality is due to gastro-enteritis which is estimated to cause up to twenty per cent of deaths in children up to one year of age.

In Nepal, eighty per cent of diseases are due to poor sanitation. Children have been found especially vulnerable to sanitation related diseases and the under-five suffer from these ailments easily.

According to a reliable source, some twenty-eight thousand children die of diarrhoea related diseases every year. They die due to poor sanitation and unsafe water.

Out of seventy-five districts, only a few have above fifty per cent latrine coverage. This shows that most Nepalese defacate in the open. In addition, washing hands after defacation and before eating food has not yet been a habit with most Nepalese. This depicts an average Nepalese living in a state of utter insanitation.

Today, our country is faced with problems such as unplanned urbanisation, decreasing supply of basic services, growing pollution and decreasing environmental conditions.

In the past, when the settlements were sparse, the disposal of garbage, although unscientific, did not create so much of a problem. However, the increasing population and the rapid construction of houses life very little space in the main areas which hindered with the disposal of waste by individuals and consequently streets and alleys turned into dumping sites thereby not only hampering the flow of traffic but the rotting garbage, emitting obnoxious stink, has proved a breeding ground for harmful germs which can give rise to various diseases.

Today, uplanned or ill-planned urban expansion has caused grave sewerage disposal problems. Due to poor and inadequate drainage, one can see tap water, dish water and filth passing through lanes and streets recklessly.

Some studies have revealed how the chances of an average Nepali child growing to be healthy are largely contingent on how the issues of clean water and sanitation and hygiene are addressed in individual households.

It has been obvious that by simply installing a water tap in a hamlet does not ensure that the villagers there become better of healthwise. In reality, diseases continue to be rampant because germs continue to have a free run in the absence of sanitation and hygiene, and killer like diarrhoea remains unchecked. Very little efforts are required to improve sanitation and hygiene of a household or a community. However, awareness is the key factor for this.

Apart from the government, there are many social organisations involved in health sectors in our country. These organi-sations along with concerned governmental departments or organi-sations can work well on sanitation. However, due to the lack of proper coordination between these organisations and concerned government bodies, there has been no satisfactory progress on sanitation.

Principal Factor

Sanitation is one of the principal factors influencing directly or indirectly the health of every individual. Local leadership is absolutely essential for bringing about substantial improvement in sanitation in the years to come.

King Mahendra's Efforts For Development

By Guna Dev Bhattarai

FROM time immemorial Nepal and India have been socially and culturally tied together. India was then regarded as the second home of the Nepalese who had been residing there, especially in northern India. King Mahendra, after realising this fact, wanted to have good relations with Pakistan and China which, during that time, had no cordial relations with India. In September 1961, King Mahendra visited Pakistan which was under Ayub Khan, the virtual military ruler. During the visit, the King was decorated with Nishan-i-Pakistan and King Mahendra awarded Ojjaswi Rajan to Ayub Khan. Then King Mahendra visited China in October, 1961. China agreed to construct the Kathmandu-Khasa. road better known as Kodari Rajmarga. The King's visits to Pakistan and China indirectly indicated that Nepal had many friendly countries besides India.

China and Pakistan, inspite of having different types of government and social and cultural diffe-rences, were bound to have closer ties so that India might not militarily humiliate Pakistan because of the fear of China's close relationship with Pakistan.

Certain measures were adopted to curb the influence of India. Only Nepali was officially declared the national language and hence Hindi ceased to be the medium of high school and university examinations, in Nepal.

However, at the same time, King Mahendra took some progressive measures. First, the legal code known as Naya Mulki Ain was promulgated on Bhadra 21, 2021 B.S. The chief aims of the code were to eliminate polygamy, child marriage untouchability and caste distinction.

As Nepal is only the Hindu Kingdom in the world, Hinduism with its deep-rooted tenets, could not be effaced for a long time. On the other hand the Brahmins, who are regarded as the cream of the country, were to be appeased by the King to have their full support for the newly introduced political system. In short the Naya Mulki Ain could not be wholly and practically implemented.

During King Mahendra's reign the cons-truction of East-West High-way, participation in the U.N. and non-aligned confe-rences, introduction of first five year plan, land reforms, Go Back to Village Campaign, the establishment of the Tribhuvan University, Nepal Prajna Pratisthan (Royal Nepal Academy), postal reforms, use of Nepalese coins throughout the country, foreign visits of the King, new educational plans and the like were regarded as progressive measures.

At the same time, Nepal began to establish diplo-matic relations with many countries. Similarly, the then U.S.S.R., Israel, the U.K, the U.S.A. and India contri-buted much to the develop-ment of Nepal by means of construction of roads, village development, establishment of sugar, cigarette factories and the like.

The ministries under Tulsi Giri, Surya Bahadur Thapa and Kirtinidhi Bista were dominated by King Mahendra. At the last stage of his life King Mahendra became dejected because his dreams of making Nepal a strong and prosperous country could not be successfully implemented by the persons whom he solely depended on. Most of the intellectuals who were democrats were ignored. Only the self-serving inte-llectuals were made the staunch supporters of the King and the partyless panchayat system of government.

King Mahendra might have had earnest will to modernise Nepal in his own way. But he depended on semi-matured politicians as a result of which he had to work hard. The burden hampered his health which, in turn, led to his untimely demise on Magh 18, 2028 B.S.