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The idea of sanitation is maintaining a clean and healthy environment without any dirt and garbage which will ensure the health and well-being of women. But lack of sanitary conditions becomes a major road block towards development as it is directly associated with health and productivity of a person. In India, the introduction of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan was a huge leap toward ensuring sanitation for all in urban as well as rural spaces. Its implementation was on a large scale and by the year 2019, the country was declared open defecation free by the Prime Minister. Despite of all these efforts, there still have been instances where the people have faced major health issues due to lack of proper sanitation facilities. Women suffer the highest brunt in their quest to access clean water and proper sanitation facilities. In the absence of the same, it can have a massive impact on their wellbeing. Women especially in rural areas, due to lack of sanitation face multiple non health related challenges as well like the threat of violence and harassment at isolated places they go to engage in open defecation, the need to control their urination or defecation due to lack of toilet facilities at their workplace, the availability of dirty muddy water posing a risk of urinary tract infection/reproductive tract infection and the lack of privacy to name a few. The respondent interviews and surveys conducted in the four villages of Uttarkashi have also pointed out challenges in these directions only. Even upon the introduction of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan in the country, and despite the fact that Uttrakhand was recipient of many awards pertaining to sanitation, these challenges still persist. The local authorities and officials also highlighted that how these challenges are proving to be a road block for them to achieve 100% sanitation in a more sustainable sense. This paper tries to understand these issues that the people face in the mountainous terrain of Uttarkashi towards their pursuit of sanitation, how the local bodies are trying to deal with them one day at a time, what are the gaps with the policy of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan and the road ahead.
Key Words: Sanitation, Water, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Women, Washrooms.
