Vinitha M
Given the specific challenges in urban sanitation faced in the mountain region, NIUA proposed setting up of a ‘Forum for Inclusive and Resilient Sanitation in Hill Cities’. The purpose of the Forum is to bring together government officials and other stakeholders from states and cities to share their experiences with respect to Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) and Integrated Wastewater and Septage Management (IWSM) with other cities of similar physiological and regional conditions and connect with sector experts through multi-disciplinary action research, knowledge & experience sharing and capacity building.

The larger aim of the Forum is to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and help in developing solutions catering to the city’s specific needs relating to varying geo-climatic factors and other contextual challenges. As the first step towards the constitution of this forum, a two-day consultation meet was organized in Leh, Ladakh from 14th to 15th July 2022. The meeting was organised by NIUA in partenership with BORDA South Asia, in association with Directorate of Urban Local Bodies, Union Terrritory, Ladakh.

The aim of the meeting was to initiate a dialogue among practitioners, think tanks and academia working in the hilly region on Water, Sanitation and Climate Change to:

  1. Understand the gaps and challenges in different hill regions with respect to sanitation, septage management and climate change
  2. Identify the roles and responsibilities individual organizations can play within the forum
  3. Conceptualize and streamline the framework of the forum

Keystone Foundation has represented from Southern part of India. Vinitha Murukesan, Programme Coordinator, Water and Sanitation was a part of the a panel discussion on “Strengthening city-level service delivery for sustainable water and sanitation in hill cities” . Some specific points highlighted through the panel was as follows,

  1. Necessity of terrain and context specific solutions for hills
  2. Consideration of Human wild-life conflicts while planning the City Sanitation Plan
  3. Community participation for a sustainable solution in the hills

A larger formalised forum for has been looked up to for formalising and implementation of customised solutions for the mountain regions.