Guidelines for faecal sludge and septage management in Bihar

According to Census 2011, Bihar reported 11.67 million urban population i.e. 11.25% of total population of state, dwelling in 199 urban centers (which accounts 3.14% of total urban population of country). The state has 143 statutory towns and 56 census towns. The state has 143 urban local bodies (ULBs) including 12 Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam), 46 Nagar Palika Parishad and 85 Nagar Panchayat. State ULBs with limited local resources and state support is responsible for provision of municipal services. A sanitation snapshot of urban Bihar in Table 1 clearly indicates that in the state, households with septic tank based sanitation systems (52.72%) far exceed those with sewer connections (7.21%). Such scenario poses a challenge to ULBs to safely manage the faecal sludge and septage throughout the sanitation service chain.