2.5 mn dollars to Assam from UN
By- Correspondent| Date- September 19, 2011
The north eastern state of Assam has been allocated 2.5 million dollars by a United Nations (UN) body for the purpose of improving hygiene and sanitation in rural areas of the state. This is with the expectation that lesser amount of money would be spent when sanitation related diseases are prevented through adequate measures of hygiene.
This project is under The Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) under the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) who has launched special programmes to promote better sanitation in rural India, special focus being on Assam and Jharkhand.
The first phase of the project would see eight districts getting a move on with sanitation in Kamrup, Sonitpur, Hailakandi, Jorhat, Nalbari, Goalpara, Nagaon and Cachar.
As per reports, Assam has a high rural household sanitation coverage of 75%, however large areas being a flood prone and the hill districts with unique geographical positions offer unique set of challenges in household sanitation.
Mentionable that as per a World Bank report, India loses close to 53.4 billion dollars worth annually due to poor sanitation and hygiene.
