PATIALA:In order to generate awareness on decentralized waste management amongst the Panchayati Raj Institutions and effective management of Solid waste, Department of Water Supply and Sanitation under the Chairpersonship of Additional Secretary cum Mission Director, SBM (G) Smt. Parneet Shergill IAS organized an exposure tour of 56 Gram Panchayats of Malerkotla district to various Solid Waste management projects in Patiala.
The participants were first taken to the sanitary landfill site developed under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) where Sh. Rajesh Sharma, Executive Officer along with his team apprised participants about the significance of solid waste management in the villages and how waste can be converted into valuable compost by using small and economical methods that requires less land as well low operation & maintenance. He insisted that segregation should be encouraged at household level and in this role of gram panchayats is very crucial in making it successful.
The participants learnt about the various components of the plant comprising of 53 aerobic composting pits with provision of leachate collection, material recovery facility, segregation of dry waste into various categories such as plastic waste, paper waste, hazardous waste, rubber waste, e-waste, iron waste etc. The Gram Panchayats were shown live the plastic bailing process along reclamation of soil from the landfill through mechanized segregation.
Addressing the PRIs, Ms. Shergill emphasised that adequate and efficient management of the solid waste through community engagement in the rural areas is the need of hour. She appealed that Gram panchayats should establish solid waste management systems in their villages availing SBM (G) and 15th Finance Commission grants.
Sh. Rakesh Sharma, State Coordinator, SBM (G) also guided the participants to continue the behaviour change attained in first phase of SBM (G) and to take the momentum gained forward in making their villages ODF plus by adopting adequate solid and liquid waste management projects in their villages.
The District Sanitation Officer Sh. Prabhleen Singh Dhanju also interacted with the participants and guided about the project undertaken in other villages of Patiala district and how they have been running successful through community interventions.
Sh. Sarbjit Singh, Sub Divisional Engineer, Sanitation during the discussion session clarified the queries of the participants regarding various technology options available for management of solid waste while Ms. Sevya Sharma, Community Development Sanitation emphasized on community led engagement for successful implementation of the projects in rural areas.
The Gram Panchayats then visited village Hardaspur of Block Patiala to learn from the experiences of the villagers as well as the Gram panchayat. Sh. Balwinder Singh, key influencer from village while talking to the participants told that they are successfully implementing the project for the past 2 years with the support of Roundglass foundation. He informed 215 households in the village are practicing waste segregation and their village has become garbage free. Compost is being formed from the wet waste while dry waste is being sold to the recycler and each household is paying a user tariff of Rs. 50 per month to the waste collector.
The Gram Panchayat is also generating revenue by selling of compost in the market and is looking after operation and maintenance of the project. The project is running successfully and the village has now become a role model for the other nearby villages.