Any time water ATMs and bio-toilets under Guwahati smart city mission- an qualitative assessment of the acceptance by citizens and possible interventions for increasing present level of footfalls and generating wider acceptance: Major Project Part 1

Student name: Ms Trisha Bordoloi
Guide: Prof. Shaleen Singhal
Year of completion: 2019
Host Organisation: Guwahati Smart City Limited
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Ankur Das

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Abstract:

Proper sanitation and availability of safe drinking water are among the necessary and basic requirements of the citizens of a city. Every year, millions of people suffer from incurable diseases and die due to poor sanitation and unavailability of safe drinking water. Rapid urbanization and migration from rural to urban areas are some of the challenges due to which the citizens face problem in receiving these basic requirements. It is seen that urban administrative departments often do not have the means to provide the city infrastructure to the ever-growing urban population. To improve sanitation by providing access to public toilets and access to safe drinking water, the Guwahati Smart City Limited under Guwahati Development Department has proposed and implemented projects for the benefits of the citizens. The projects are – Any time water ATMs and smart Bio-toilets are installed in all the public spaces of Guwahati city. This will benefit all the section of the society including the differently abled individuals. The citizens will gain easy access to safe drinking water and toilets in major public spaces including schools, colleges, hospitals and major hotspots of Guwahati city. The projects have been implemented and installed but acceptance by the citizens are yet to be assured. An assessment is required to measure the success of the implemented projects and to know the after effects and also to generate awareness among the citizens. The before and after assessment should be done to measure the success of the projects and possible interventions for increasing the present level of footfalls. A questionnaire survey is prepared and conducted among the users on different sites of the installed projects. The survey is conducted to analyze the benefits and to know if the citizens are aware of such projects, the operational technique of using it and if facing any difficulties. The learning outcome of this assessment study is to incorporate any interventions which may otherwise be lacking while implementation and which on understanding will benefit the citizens.

Key words: Sustainable, Sanitation, Safe drinking water, Awareness, Footfall.