Globally 2.4 billion people live without access to improved sanitation of which 1 billion people practice open defecation (WHO-2015). Sanitation was one of the most off-track Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Only 68% of the world's population has access to improved sanitation (WHO-2015). Sanitation lies at the root of many other development challenges, as poor sanitation impacts public health, education and the environment. Based on the Global WASH fact sheet (2012), The Maldives and Sri Lanka have better sanitation facilities than India and Afghanistan which have the least coverage. South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) is working on the improving the sanitation facilities in the SAARC. Among Indian states, North Eastern states have better facilities compared to other regions (Census-2011). After launching the Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM) programme sanitation growth is observed across the country. The paper is based on secondary data and focuses mainly on sanitation condition in South Asian countries, India and states. GIS Techniques are used to prepare the maps and analyse the data and is presented in the paper.
Sanitation, Swachh Bharat Mission, Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, GIS
