Fecal Sludge Treatment or Septage Management is increasingly being recognised as an effective and appropriate method to scale urban sanitation systems to achieve safe sanitation, particularly in small towns and cities. As implementation progresses, data-based evidence is emerging, highlighting the challenges faced on the ground, and the requisite planning necessary to address them. This paper presents the findings, challenges and possible ways ahead from a study conducted to provide data for Fecal Sludge Management (FSM) planning for a small town in a state in southern India. With the objective of understanding the nature of containment structures and on-ground desludging practices, 8,001 households and 1,667 establishments were studied in Periyanaicken-Palayam (PNP), a non-sewered Town Panchayat in Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, to provide evidence for effective decision-making. The study showed wide variations in the sizing and design of the containment systems, which, when combined with the irregular frequency of desludging, has implications for FSM planning by municipal bodies. This study also highlights the methodological difficulties in studying containment systems, exposes a significant response bias given the limited understanding of containment systems within households, and spotlights the difficulty in physically verifying the reported data given the underground nature of these systems.

Indian cities are at high risk India is one of the more vulnerable and high-risk countries in the world. Disaster loss is rising every year with grave consequences for the survival, dignity and livelihood of individuals, particularly the poor, and poses a severe setback to hard-won development gains. Growing concentrations of people, built and economic assets in cities is exponentially increasing their propensity to disaster risk. While disasters are known to compound vulnerabilities, with increasing densities in cities and access to services and resources becoming more contested, people's vulnerability to disasters is growing, making it a vicious cycle. Despite proven correlation between changing climate and increasing frequencies and intensities of hazards, the level of preparedness for such events, particularly in developing countries like India, is still very low. With limited resources available to direct towards planning and resilience building, developing economies like India end up prioritising rehabilitation and rescue in the face of an event. Lack of data, access to technology and lack of technical and institutional capacities exacerbates this situation further. By 2011, 468 cities in India had population higher than 1 lakh. 76% of the Indian population is exposed to high-tomedium hazard risk, of which nearly 30% live in these onelakh-plus cities. Many of these urban centres are exposed to multiple hazards, especially earthquake, cyclone, storm surge, drought, floods and fires. The impact is often exacerbated due to multiple hazards occurring together and further aggravated by the growing socioeconomic and climatic vulnerabilities. Additionally, the low perception of risk leads to even greater destruction due to a lack of riskreduction practices. Public expenditure for relief on account of natural disasters can be taxing on the budgeted social sector expenses in successive years, which makes preparedness and mitigation even more pertinent.

I am part of a research team from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements from Bangalore. We are studying the impacts of cyclone Phailin and the related resettlement programmes in Odisha. Is it okay if I could take about 30 minutes of your time for some questions? The material will only be used for research purposes and your identity will not be disclosed to anyone at any point. You can choose not to answer anything that you do not wish to, and you can stop the interview at any point. (Visiting card is shared) (Re): Sure. (In): How long has this neighbourhood been around? 8 Site Report for India-Section IV 9 India 10 Site Report for India-Section IV (In): Do you inform the public about Anganwadi programme? (Re): Anganwadi workers take care of that. I offer support. (In): What are your specific duties? (Re): Protection of the public; Cleanliness; Water supply; Mother and child care; Executing all government supported programmes under my jurisdiction (In): If a needy person from your jurisdiction comes and asks for help will be you ready to help him? (Re): If the demand is right and justifiable I will pursue it with the government to help the needy person. (In): How do you manage time at work and home? (Re): I prioritise my workload on who requires my immediate attention and work accordingly. But end of the day I am a "Public Servant". (In): What problems do you want to work on the most? (Re): Education for kids; educating women; development of my locality (In): What work does the Anganwadis do? (Re): Mother and child care; Halogen tablets; Phailaria Nutrition and food supply to children (In): What do you do if someone makes a negative remark on your or your work? (Re): I am sure that I cannot please everyone. But I work on it and will try to help the person. (In): Are you aware of the ODRP infrastructure programme in urban areas? (Re): No, but recently an infrastructure programme was announced by the Chief Minister which will help the city with a new water supply pipeline for places which fall under the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC). (In): That's all for now madam, Thanks a lot for your time. Do you have any questions for us? (Re): No, but please do share the results of your study. Thank you! Notes from the Interview at the Anganwadi (pre-school) in Ram Nagar Odiya Sahi

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