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A large variety of sanitary systems could be noticed at 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨. Many types of sanitary devices right from the earliest time indicated experimentation in this field. Roughly different types of vertical pits and kaccha drains were used as sanitary devices. The simplest of them was circular, unlined pits, introduced and used by the earliest inhabitants. Presence of lo峁璦 shaped vessel in the pits and greenish moss residue at the bottom imply that they were used as latrines. The less deep soak pits were used as privies. The shallower pits were quickly filled with garbage and had a short life span. Such pit latrines were found to be more useful in the early NBPW phase when population was fairly low. At 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨 such latrines were found lying close to each other implying that they were dug up for community use. Such latrines were mainly a necessity of the urban area and were found at 艢谤腻惫补蝉迟墨, 碍补耻艣腻尘产墨 and Taxila and make it clear that it was a common practice of the early settlers of the middle 骋补峁単腻 plain to use them. In a late phase of NBPW age they became ineffective as the population grew. In a densely populated area need for a private sanitation felt. In this regard introduction of ring wells was a welcome step. They were lined with terracotta rings which were not there in the earlier pits. Thus the gradual evolution of sanitation can be noticed. But these ring wells served other purposes too.^[1]

At 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨 two types of sanitary arrangements were exposed from this layer. The first one is a combination of bigger and deeper pit and smaller pit. The small one was encircled by terracotta rings up to a certain depth to check percolation of sullage water into the habitation area. The second variety is even advanced and the whole depth of the well was covered by terracotta rings. In most cases they were located either inside or just at the margin of locality. These different types of pits had a wide spatial distribution. While Rairh had the highest concentration of these pits other places like Prahladpur, Takiapur, Sonepur, 痴补颈艣腻濒墨 and 碍补耻艣腻尘产墨 also revealed these pits. The last two sites were important towns of the middle Ganga plain. However they were used for latrines, soak pits, refuse pits, draw wells and granaries. At 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨 they were principally used as soak pits, though in some places they were used as draw wells. The earliest unlined pits were introduced at 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨 around 300 BCE. But from the period IB two ring wells numbered 22 and 27 showed that two rings attached to them and making it clear that terracotta ring wells came to use quite early at 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨. Pits were dug quite deep so that the excreta falls quite deep to avoid odour, insects or other nuisances. Such pits used as latrines were only found at urban, riverine settlements since 400 BCE.

Another type of improved sanitary device came into use in period III (beginning of the Christian era to the 3^rd century CE). Large soakage jars with perforated bottom were placed one above the other. Sometimes a jar was put inside a pit. They had a shorter longevity and less hygienic and thus could not gain much popularity. Another type of sanitary device was masonry drains. Masonry drains were made of burnt bricks and were much more durable in nature. These bricks were laid at the bottom and then erecting two parallel walls to form a channel. This was the common method of making domestic as well as public drains. During phase III they are mostly open, though in some cases they are covered too. This ensured a better hygiene. In private households these drains were linked to bathing platforms or draw wells. They became more popular all over the middle 骋补峁単腻 plain from the late phase of period III. At 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨 however this became the dominant sanitary system and almost replaced all other earlier systems. This new type of system could flush out all the dirty water of the entire complex. Sometimes a drain ran between two house complexes and channels ran underneath the wall for the outlet of water. But where these drains actually led could not be traced.

Supply of drinking water was another important component of the urban planning. From the early NBPW phase no precise knowledge of how the people got their drinking water is available. Most probably they got it from nearby river or water source. Beginning of the Christian era saw important changes in this direction too. From the structural phase 2 a domestic well was reported. But this was very limited in scope. The real changes can be seen from Period IV (300-700CE) or roughly the Gupta period. Though people still collected their drinking water from the nearby rivers some pucca wells also existed in this phase probably for drawing drinking water. In the earlier period such wells were located within the individual house complexes and meant for private use. The important change came in the form of a massive brick well. Its massive size and detailed construction implies that it was meant for public use. That was definitely an advancement in the civic amenity offered to the public, though private wells continued.

From period IV, two long public drains numbered 9 and 5 were discovered. Drain 9 ran east west and had a west ward slope and finally meets the 骋补峁単腻. The other one had a complex and asymmetrical structure. Its starting point is not known but from its westward slope it seems that it met the 骋补峁単腻. Private or house drains are not so much exposed. But drains with small channel openings were perhaps linked to these public drains. On a brick paving two parallel walls were built. Over them two more walls were built. Considering its dimensions it was taken as a public drain. Terracotta pipes were attached to this drain from adjoining houses to carry off all wastes of these houses. Terracotta drain pipes made another addition to the sanitary system. They were attached to each other to get the desired length. All these components formed an advanced sanitary system. It reflected a sense of hygiene and stood as a hallmark of urbanism at 痴腻谤腻峁嘺蝉墨.

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[1]:

T. N. Roy op.cit. 1983, p.142.