The insanitary conditions of the localities in India is responsible for most of the deaths from preventable diseases like cholera dysentery, typhoid fever, other water borne diseases etc.
Scheme for Improvement
Mass education
Town planning and housing
Safe water supply
Conservancy arrangement – disposal of the refuse and night soil
Sanitary measures for the disposal of the dead
Measures against preventable disease
Special measures
Mass Education
People should be educated and told that
most of the diseases from which they suffer are preventable and thousands of lives could be saved.
Dangers of insanitary habits
Harmful effects of overcrowding
effects of ill ventilation, unhygienic surroundings pollution etc.
Elementary knowledge of hygiene should be taught in schools.
Educate also on the necessity of adopting sanitary measures for good health.
Town planning and Housing
Teach people on the importance to build healthy houses and good roads and to keep them clean
Each house should have 1-2 bedrooms, 1 kitchen, verandah etc. There should be privy in a corner
Cow sheds, which are common in villages, should be placed at least 25 feet from house
Suitable arrangements be made for drainage of waste materials and refuse removal from house and cow sheds
House should be water proof, floor should be cemented
Rooms should have suitable floor space, cubic space. They should be sunny, well ventilated, with suitable windows and doors.
Safe water supply
Cheap and dependable methods of supply of wholesome water be provided.
Such facilities can be
Deep tube wells, deep wells, protected tanks etc.
Wells and tanks must be constructed and maintained properly.
Periodical disinfection and cleansing of these water sources are of immense importance for a supply of good water.
Efficient conservancy
Dry refuse
House sweepings and other refuse can be collected in empty drums and disposed off in the evening by burial or burning.
If buried, they should be covered with sufficient earth so that they don’t become fly breeding place, don’t emit foul smells or in rainy seasons don’t mix with water bodies and pollute them.
Burial with compost formation is quite satisfactory method.
Liquid waste water
Slop water, rain and other liquid should be drained by surface drains.
Drains should have proper gradient and impervious made with cement or glazed pipes
Drains should not open in tanks/ other water sources
Water should be disposed off by using for irrigation etc
Soakage pit for every house may be dug for the disposal of waste water.
Night soil
Septic tank latrine
RCA type of latrine with sewerage system
Urine disposal
Soakage pit can be used for this also
Soakage pit
A 6’x6’x6’ pit is dug. The pit is filled from bottom up with pebbles, bricks, charcoal sand etc up to about 6” below the earth surface.
Sanitary disposal of the dead
Dead bodies including the carcass of dead animals should be effectively disposed off so as not to affect the health of the people adversely.
Dead animals should be buried
Burial and burning grounds should be specially set apart in every town/ village.
Measures against preventable diseases
Common diseases include, malaria, cholera, TB, hook worm infestations etc.
There should be a curative services also by having some treatment centers – one for every 30000 persons in plane areas and one for every 20000 persons in hilly and tribal areas.
Treatment centers should be able to refer more serious cases to higher centers.
Measures against diseases should be launched and enforced on established lines.
There must be facilities for vaccination and other preventive measures.
Special measures
These include –
Protection of food by providing hygienic measures
Anti-mosquito and anti-flies measures
Protection of water supply, including protection of piped water supply from possibility of contamination
Prevention of cultivation within 200 yards of human habitation.
Participants