‘Clean drive’ reaches a significant milestone
Mayor Sarubala R.Tondaiman inspecting the integrated sanitary complex on Damodharan Eda Street in Tiruchi on Thursday.Damodharan Eda Street, near Palakkarai in the city, was declared the 100th open defecation-free zone on Thursday as part of a joint initiative of the Corporation and voluntary organisations — Gramalaya, Wateraid and Alaigal Women’s Federation.The initiative, started in 2003-04, has covered 100 habitations in various parts of the city. Open defecation has been eradicated in these areas by handing over public toilets to women self-help groups for maintenance.The public toilets have been renovated wherever necessary by the Corporation. Special groups, called Sanitation Hygiene Education Teams, comprising the stakeholders have been formed in the localities to create awareness. The Integrated Sanitary Complexes at these places have also been provided child-friendly toilet enclosures.The Water Partners International extended revolving fund for the families in the localities for getting water connections and construction of household toilets. Last year about 551 families were provided Rs.45 lakh as revolving fund and another 1,000 families would get the fund this year.
Out of the 186 habitations identified for the project by Gramalaya, 100 have been covered so far and the remaining would be declared as open defecation-free zones by March next year.Speaking at a function to mark the declaration, the Mayor Sarubala R. Tondaiman said that the Corporation constructed 67 integrated sanitary complexes in the city in the last five years at a cost of about Rs.6 crore. Besides, there were about 291 Corporation-built toilets in the city which were being handed over to voluntary organisations for maintenance. She called upon the voluntary organisations to participate in the solid waste management initiative of the Corporation. Self-help groups could be involved in manufacturing compost from solid wastes, she suggested.The Commissioner, B. Balachandran, stressed the role of voluntary organisations in improving sanitation in the city. The Ariyamangalam zone chairman, Jerome Arockiaraj, commended the area residents and Gramalaya for successfully implementing the project.
The Executive Director of Gramalaya, J. Geetha, said that the number of slums in the city has now increased to 211 and hoped that the Corporation would support the organisation to extend the project to the newly-identified areas also. So far, 34 out of the 44 slums in Ariyamangalam zone of the Corporation has been declared open defecation-free zones and the remaining areas would be covered by August 15.The City Engineer, Raja Mohammed, and others participated.
