KATHMANDU: The nation is lagging far behind as far as sanitation is concerned. At a conservative estimate, 17 million people have no access to proper toilet facilities and 7.1 million lack potable water.

The result: Four per cent loss in annual Gross Domestic Product.

Nepal figures high on the list of Water Aid, an INGO, which has been waging a relentless sanitation campaign across the globe.

According to Water Aid’s data 2.5 billion people are being denied hygienic toilet facilities.

Experts say washing hands with soap water after defecation can reduce chances of contracting diarrhoea by over 40 per cent. Similarly safe disposal of children’s excreta can help kids stay free of water-borne ailments. Diarrhoea is a killer disease. Around 5,000 children below the age of five die daily in the world due to diarrhoea. Urban sanitation woes are a cause for concern as well. There is also a class divide. The rich people’s access to amenities is eight times more than the poor.

Water Aid Nepal’s study has concluded that sanitation woes are acute in the Tarai.

Unhygienic living conditions are rampant in the southern plains as more than 73 per cent of the population is deprived of basic amenities. Extensive field studies have shown that wells in the Tarai are highly polluted, and many are contaminated with lethal arsenic as well.

The sanitation coverage across the nation is skewed.

Of the 75 districts, 42 meet the national criteria as per a report published in 2005.

The government has to meet the sanitation-for-all deadline by 2017. It is in a daunting task that requires an annual investment of Rs 7.5 billion. If the target

were to be achieved, then 10 toilets ought to be built in each VDC every month

from now on.

Funds, though, are in short supply. As per the arrangement, 65 per cent of the money is provided by the donors and the rest by the government.

Meanwhile, Nepal has to ensure 53 per cent toilet coverage by 2015 in accordance with United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which loosely translates to constructing 879 latrines daily.

The MDG figures, compiled in 2005, suggested that 70 per cent of the population in rural areas did not have access to basic sanitation facilities and 19 per cent in urban centres. While, International Year of Sanitation (IYS), 2008, had reported that 46 per cent of the population in Nepal did not have access to toilets and 76 per cent lacked potable water.

“Nepal incurs a loss of Rs 10 billion annually due to poor hygiene and environmental sanitation,” concluded the IYS report, singling out public and community schools for lack of facilities. No wonder, 80 per cent of communicable diseases are prevalent due to widespread use of contaminated water. Besides, there is an acute problem of solid waste management and sewerage system in the urban areas, thanks to population explosion.

National Demographic and Health Survey, which comes under the Ministry of Health and Population, admitted that that these endemic problems led to deaths of 10,500 children in 2006.