UP facing a severe problem of excreta overload. State manages to treat only 13.16 per cent of its excreta

New Delhi, May 8, 2018: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has prepared a set of

comprehensive guidelines for managing faecal sludge and septage in cities of Uttar Pradesh

– in a recently held review meeting, the Uttar Pradesh government declared that these

guidelines will soon be issued for 653 urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state.

Manoj Kumar Singh, principal secretary,department of urban development, government of

Uttar Pradeshassured that the guidelines will be issued and they will help the ULBs in

faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM). The guidelines were prepared by CSE on

request of the department.

Said Suresh Rohilla, programme director, water management, CSE: “According to the

national policy on FSSM released by the Union ministry of urban development, every state

in India has to develop guidelines and provide technical, financial and administrative

support to ULBsand encourage coordination and cooperation among ULBs.”

He added: “States also need to regulate and help ULBs set up systems to ensure financial

sustainability in provision of FSSM services and implement municipal by-laws, create

enabling environment for participation of NGOs and CSOs in provision of FSSM services

(including to the poor and marginalised households and areas), and support-develop state-

level FSSM strategy and implementation plans, research and capacity building as well as

monitoring and evaluation capabilities.”

As per a 2015 report of the Central Pollution Control Board, Uttar Pradesh has 73 sewage

treatment plants (STPs) with a cumulative treatment capacity of 2,646.84 million litres per

day (MLD). Seven of these STPs (89.59 MLD) are non-operational, three (cumulative

capacity 170 MLD) are under construction, and one STP (15 MLD) has been proposed.

CSE researchers point out that a Faecal Waste Flow Diagram (often referred to as ‘SFD’)

based on the 2011 Census, shows that 86.73 per cent of the untreated excreta in the state

either enters water bodies or is disposed of in agricultural lands or the domestic environment. “This poses a huge risk to public health and the environment at large,” said Rohilla.

Under this partnership with the state government, CSE will support the department of

urban development in improvingthe capacity of the state and its ULBs in planning,

designing and implementation of interventions across the sanitation value chain for

effective septage management and for preparing City Sanitation Plans. This will include

technical support for pilot intervention in a few towns/cities, monitoring and research

required to identify barriers and solutions for scaling up interventions required for

achieving city-wide sanitation.

CSE has selected Bijnor and Chunar as its target model towns for this project. CSE has also

agreed to provide technical support to the department for developing a pilot project (in

and around Lucknow, the state capital) for showcasing cost-effective co-treatment of faecal

sludge and septage at existing sewage treatment plants and dedicated faecal sludge and

septage treatment plants.



Said Rohilla: “This collaboration between CSE and the state will help in strengthening the

ongoing efforts towardsreducing pollution in the Ganga, by allowing disposal and co-

treatment of faecal sludge and septage in all existing and upcoming STPs and faecal sludge

treatment plants where no STPs exist in towns and cities across the state.”



 For any other details or for interviews, please contact Parul Tiwari of The CSE

Media Resource Centre, parul@cseindia.org / 9891838367.