Tea garden workers living in Sylhet, the northeastern divisional city of Bangladesh lack proper water supply and sanitation facilities. A study [1] was conducted at Lakkatura and Ali Bahar Tea Estates to assess the deteriorated sanitation conditions of this worker community and to propose what was needed to improve these conditions. About 50% to 60% of the workers still practice open defecation causing various excreta-related diseases and they also do not wash their hands after defecation. Lack of knowledge and awareness about health and hygiene, unwillingness, poverty, superstitions, etc. are responsible for the deteriorated condition of the sanitation system. Based on the analysis, providing latrines free of cost, undertaking extensive motivational and awareness programmes and publicity, regular consultation of tea garden workers with health specialists, and vector control staff of concerned utilities as well as an integrated water supply, sanitation, and hygiene promotion programmes should be considered as the priority in order to improve the deteriorated sanitary conditions in two tea gardens.

[1] Ahmed, M., Begum, A. and Chowdhury, M.A.I. (2009). Social constraints before sanitation improvement in tea gardens of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Environmental monitoring and assessment. Published online 14 April. doi:10.1007/s10661-009-0890-0

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Related web sites: IRC - Sanitation ; SuSaNa - Sustainable Sanitation Alliance ; World Bank - Sanitation & Hygiene

Contact: M. Ahmed, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Shah Jalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, 3114, Bangladesh, mushtaq_cee@yahoo.com

Tags: hygiene promotion, on-site sanitation, south asia