Introduction
Homes and businesses in Chunar rely on septic tanks and pits, but the town had no record of where they were, how big they were or when they were last emptied. Without that baseline, the planned faecal sludge treatment plant (FSTP) could not be sized and desludging could not be scheduled or regulated. Chunar, in Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, has a population of 40,205 across 25 wards on the banks of the Ganga.
Project info
- Client: Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)
- Funder / programme: Gates Foundation; pilot-scale faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) initiative under CSE’s Urban Water-Waste Management Programme
- Period: Dec 2021 – Feb 2022 (two phases)
- Location: Chunar, Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh, India
Scope
In line with the directives of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the urban local body (ULB) of Chunar set out to build an FSTP and put in place a structured desludging framework to keep it sustainable. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) funded the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) to provide technical assistance to the town, and CSE engaged Innpact for the property survey and data systems that underpin the plant and the desludging service.
Did You Know?
- Chunar has a traditional handloom industry, producing fabrics and textiles that are appreciated for their quality and craftsmanship, making the handloom sector an essential part of the town’s economy.
- Chunar is famous for its unique pottery and ceramics, known as "Chunar pottery".
Services Delivered
Town-Wide Property Survey
We carried out a property survey of the whole town in two phases, using a web and Android app that tracked progress in real time and geo-referenced every property.
Coverage of All Land Uses
The survey covered residential, commercial, government and private offices, medical and educational institutions and industries, and captured data on about 29,000 residents, giving a detailed picture of the population and land use.
Geospatial Database Creation
We combined the survey data with open satellite imagery to create a geospatial database for the town, the foundation for spatial analysis and decision-making.
Interactive Power BI Dashboard for Desludging Services
From the database we developed an interactive Power BI dashboard and MIS for Chunar Nagar Palika Parishad, giving real-time updates on desludging services.
Capacity Determination and Desludging Framework
The survey findings were used to set the treatment plant’s capacity and to develop a desludging framework for different land uses and income groups.
Thematic Maps and Value Chain Insights
We used the survey data to produce thematic maps showing conditions and potential interventions across the sanitation value chain, to guide planning and implementation.
Results
- A 100% property survey of Chunar, about 8,000 households plus commercial, institutional, medical, educational and industrial premises, completed in two phases.
- A geo-referenced consumer database recording containment type and size, desludging frequency, water-bill details and willingness to pay.
- An MIS and interactive Power BI dashboard for real-time tracking of desludging services.
- Survey data used to size the FSTP and design a desludging framework by land use and income group.
- A survey of private desludging operators to support their licensing.
Work Illustration
The app-based survey tool tracked the property survey in real time and geo-referenced every unit. The survey covered every property type, including residential and commercial units, government and private offices, medical and educational institutions and industries.
