Sarpanchs share experiences in SLWM at Sarpanch Samvad

Both men and women Sarpanchs shared their experiences in managing solid and liquid waste as a part of Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G) Phase II, towards making their villages ODF Plus, during a Sarpanch Samvad held virtually on February 26, 2021.

Sarpanchs from the States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and participated in the event chaired by Mr. Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti in the presence of Mr. Arun Baroka, Additional Secretary, DDWS.

In his opening remarks, the Secretary DDWS applauded the work carried out by the Sarpanchs in their respective villages and said that the meeting would provide a platform for them to learn from each other about the best practices in SLWM.

Here are the Sarpanchs that participated in the virtual meeting:

• Ms. Shubham Parma, Sarpanch, Indore, Madhya Pradesh • Mr. Rajesh Jangde, Sarpanch, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh • Ms. Anita Paliwal, Sarpanch Piplantri, Rajsamand, Rajasthan • Mr. Chandu Patil, Deputy Sarpanch, Rajgarh, Chandrapur, Maharashtra • Ms. Anjita Sahu, Durg, Chhattisgarh • Ms. Pranjali Tai, Sarpanch, Nagpur, Maharashtra • Ms. Meenu Chhetri, Pradhan, , Uttarakhand • Ms. Monika Bharti, Sarpanch, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh • Mr. Usha Birla, Daruhi, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh • Ms. Padmini Yadav, Temri, Raipur, Chhattisgarh • Ms. Sheela Sunil Vaid, Sarpanch, Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh • Mr. Bhimrao Mane, Sarpanch, Sangli, Maharashtra • Mr. Ravi Sahoo, Sarpanch, Jodhpur, Rajasthan • Mr. Sandeep Kapila, Sarpanch, Una, Himachal Pradesh

All the Sarpanchs talked about their ODF Plus activities and efforts being made to ensure usage of toilets and to sustain the gains made so far. They understand that those activities would lead to visual cleanliness of their villages and contribute to their health and wellbeing. While all of them have distributed two bins to each household to segregate waste at source, some of them are encouraging composting of wet waste at household level and others at a common compost pit constructed for the village. As for plastic waste, it is resold to scrap dealers. About wastewater, grey water is being channelled into specially constructed soakpits and others treat water in waste stabilisation ponds for further use in kitchen gardens and agricultural fields.

Quotes of Sarpanchs:

"We have built a soakpit for the management of liquid waste in our village and are working to segregate waste every week with the support of women from the Self-Help Group." - Padmani Yadav, Sarpanch, Temari

In Daruhi Gram Panchayat of Hamirpur District, dry waste is regularly collected from door to door and segregated. Soakpits have been constructed for management of liquid waste. This has helped in recharging ground water and preventing overflow into the village paths and stagnation - Usha Birla, Sarpanch.

In my panchayat, waste is segregated at household level and liquid waste is managed through the soakpits - Sarpanch Sandeep Kapila from Una.

"From the beginning of the Swachh Bharat Mission, our goal was to make people aware of the importance of hygiene and sanitation. For this we conducted various activities such as sanitation rallies and cleanliness campaigns in public places." - Meenu Chhetri, Sarpanch, Purohit Wala (Dehradun). “Rainwater is harvested and grey water from households is treated and used in our farms,” - Sarpanch of the Kadoli Panchayat, Nagpur district.

Segregation of dry waste and solid and liquid waste management provides employment to the women in our panchayat. - Mrs. Anjita, Sarpanch from Durg.

My village in Maharashtra is a perfect example of cleanliness. Having made it 'open defecation free' in 2006, we have worked on other sanitation areas. Today many panchayat sanitation complexes are operating in our panchayat. The drains in the village are maintained so well that there was no need to clean them during the last 19 years. - Sarpanch Chandu Patil of Rajgarh.

Sarpanch of Pipalantri village said that she encourages the village community to dispose of their wet waste in their own premises by constructing compost pits.

Anita Paliwal, Sarpanch of Pipalantri village in Rajsamand district, is pushing for waste management in her village. All wastewater from households is used for kitchen gardening.

Sarpanch Rajak Jangde of Bilkisganj, Madhya Pradesh discussed the steps being taken for the management of solid and liquid waste in his village.