7,000 villages to benefit from Himachal’s new faecal sludge management plan

With the aim of improving rural sanitation and ensuring proper faecal sludge management in rural areas, the Rural Development Department, in collaboration with the Jal Shakti Department, is set to develop co-treatment systems for faecal sludge at identified Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) across Himachal Pradesh.

The project is expected to be completed at all approved STPs by March 31, 2027, benefiting around 7,000 villages across the state.

A spokesperson for the Rural Development Department said that after achieving Open Defecation Free (ODF) status, Himachal Pradesh is now moving towards the next phase of rural sanitation.

He explained that most rural households use septic tanks or single-pit systems to collect toilet waste. “Over time, these tanks accumulate faecal matter, sludge and other waste, collectively known as faecal sludge. Often, these tanks are not cleaned regularly and the waste is not managed safely. As a result, it is dumped in open areas, drains, ditches, rivers or forests, leading to water pollution and increasing the risk of waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid,” he said.

The spokesperson said that to address this issue, the state is implementing faecal sludge management as the next step in strengthening rural sanitation. The objective is to ensure the safe collection, transportation, treatment and scientific disposal of waste from septic tanks.

“Under this model, instead of establishing separate faecal sludge treatment plants, the required infrastructure is being developed within existing STPs. Faecal sludge extracted from septic tanks will be transported to these plants and scientifically treated along with sewage. This approach will eliminate the need for new treatment facilities, reduce costs and ensure better utilisation of existing STPs,” he said.

He added that 30 co-treatment projects have so far been approved in the state after a committee assessed STP capacity, estimated faecal sludge volumes, project costs and other technical parameters.

The spokesperson further said that the Rural Development Department has released approximately Rs 15 crore to the Jal Shakti Department for the implementation of these projects. “A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has also been signed between the two departments. Among the approved projects, faecal sludge co-treatment work has already commenced at the STPs in Palampur and Sundernagar, and surrounding rural areas have started benefiting from the initiative,” he said.