Ajouli becomes first ‘Swachh’ panchayat of Una

Rajesh Sharma

UNA, DECEMBER 25

Ajouli has attained the distinction of becoming the first ‘Swachh’ panchayat of Una district, complete with both solid and liquid waste management systems in place.

Panchayat pradhan Parveen Kumari said the state government provided funds for different types of waste management machinery and laying of the underground pipe network for collecting waste water which is drained into an old village pond. She said local residents collectively formulated norms such as segregating household waste and fixing user charges for the person collecting garbage.

Waste management

• The biodegradable material is composted with the help of a composter, which has a capacity to compost 150 kg of material into 15 kg of compost each day
• Bio-medical discards like sanitary pads, diapers and bandages are sent to another machine, while other material is sold off as junk

Una Block Development Officer Ramanveer Chauhan said it took almost eight years for the panchayat to attain the ‘Swachh’ status as each component had to be implemented as per norms and funds also came in instalments. The first instalment of Rs 20 lakh was received about six years ago and the liquid waste management plan was executed.

An old unused and dried-up pond which was located almost in the middle of the habitations was chosen as the collection point for the waste water, said Sandeep Duvedi, who was the panchayat pradhan six years ago. The pond was beautified with a walking path circumferencing it, he said, adding that the water got recharged into the ground and there was no foul smell around.

For the solid waste management system, which was initiated during Parveen Kumari’s tenure as pradhan, she said another sum of Rs 20 lakh was utilised to purchase machinery and colour-coded bins. The waste is segregated by residents into biodegradable and non-degradable waste, which gets transported to a recycling facility, she said, adding that a plastic shredder was used to shred plastic material and the product was sold to plastic recycling units.

The biodegradable material is composted with the help of a composter, which has a capacity to compost 150 kg of material into 15 kg of compost each day, said panchayat up-pradhan Surinder Nath Duvedi, adding while bio-medical discards like sanitary pads, diapers and bandages are sent to another machine, while other material is sold off as junk. He said there were about 410 households in the panchayat and every household paid Re 1 per day to the sanitation worker for collecting the garbage.

The BDO said the Ajouli panchayat had remained on the forefront in the field of cleanliness and sanitation. In 2013, the panchayat had won the Nirmal Gram Award, which has a cash incentive of Rs 10 lakh, while in 2013, it bagged the Maharishi Valmiki Sampoorna Swachata Award which comes with a cash award of Rs 5 lakh. He said in 2018 too, the panchayat was awardes a sum of Rs 1 lakh under the Swach Bharat Mission.