Page 63 - HUDCO Award for Best Practices - 2024

THEME: SANITATION

who operated the illegal services is another impact that the system had. All such staff who worked throughout night time fearing
police and authorities were given an opportunity to work with dignity using state of the art equipment and systems. The following
table shows the number of trips and the quantity of septage processed by the system in the last few years.

Year No of Septage Trips Total Quantity Septage
Transported Processed (Litre)
2019 4813 2,14,70,624
2020 11,157 4,56,30,128
2021 14,124 6,14,00,100
2022 20,024 9,25,43,852

SUSTAINABILITY

The system operates on funds which it generates itself via the service charge collected per trip from the public. As the operating costs
are less than the total revenue and as it does not depend on any outside funds to operate, the system is economically sustainable. The
truck operators were charging hefty rates to the tune of 15,000 Rs for the service before introduction of the system from the public.
As there was no alternative, they had to succumb to the pressure put on by the truck operators to obtain the service. They made sure
that the customer was put in pressure by delaying the service. Now the rates are pre-published and customers can book for service
online and make payment directly to the corporation via online modes. The rates are less than 5,000 Rs for a normal household which
is far less than what they had to pay earlier. Since there is no cash transaction between operators and customers there is no friction in
the field. Since the public perceives the system as a boon to them and recognizes its value, it is socially sustainable. The corporation
was struggling with the problem of contamination of water bodies and roads due to unauthorised dumping of septage waste. There
were regular complaints regarding such events and public health was being affected. Enforcement squads of the corporation had to
spend lots of man hours patrolling the city at night time to detect and book violators. Since implementation of the system, the general
public became aware of the benefits of using this service and thereby any player outside the network who illegally operated stopped
getting any order. Also, the system is backed up legally using a bye law which the corporations council has passed. So, the system is
institutionally sustainable as the top officials and political administrative heads are seeing the benefits of the system. The primary
objective of the system is to prevent pollution of water bodies and based on the data we have; it is clear that it has met the objective
clearly. They generate and ensure that it is getting dumped in the STP plant only. So culturally and environmentally the system is
sustainable and has empowered the people to act up on a huge environmental problem.
TRANSFERABILITY

The system is handling the septage collection and disposal service perfectly in the corporation and all scenarios which arose during
its operation have been handled easily. The system can be replicated to any corporation or municipality which is facing challenges
similar to that of Thiruvananthaturam. Govt. of Kerala has identified the project as having a major impact on solving the septage
problem and has mooted a proposal to replicate the system all over Kerala as part of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0.
LESSONS LEARNED

The primary motivation behind the implementation of the system is the responsibility that the corporation has related to public
health. As per the constitution of India, the local bodies are entrusted with the responsibility of providing clean drinking water and to
manage the waste generated by the community. The corporation took its role very seriously and was having various discussions and
consultations with experts from various domains to prevent the issue of dumping of septage waste in water bodies. We traced certain
public health issues in certain areas in the corporation to the contaminated water sources in those areas. So, it was of paramount
importance to the corporation to find a solution to the problem. The corporation’s health team was experienced in implementing
IT systems for the cleaning of Karamana river in Thiruvananthaturam. Also, the need for a legal backing for the entire process was
identified initially. The formulation of the bye law which contained provisions for implementing the system based on an IT back bone
was done for this. The identification of key lorry owners and union heads and earning the trust of such key people was of paramount
importance in the success of the system. Instead of an iron fist policy, the corporation took an inclusive approach and educated the
public and operators regarding the dangers of dumping septage in public places. Once all key players were on board, the system was
operated in a distributed manner whereby no one had absolute control over any aspects. Thus, unnecessary interventions which can
possibly derail the system were prevented. The main advice we have for any other institution implementing the system is to ensure
that the entire operations have legal footing.

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