The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : 5 Kancheepuram villages get sanitation award

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 07, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

5 Kancheepuram villages get sanitation award

J. Malarvizhi

Rural Development Ministry gives the award to villages that have adopted model sanitation practices They adopted model sanitation practices and were selected by Union Ministry for Rural Development

CLEAN VILLAGE: Members of the self-help group involved in garbage collection, segregation and composting at the Thiruvidanthai panchayat in Kancheepuram district seen in their compost shed on Thursday. — Photo: M. Karunakaran

CHENNAI: Five villages in Kancheepuram district, four of them headed by elected women representatives have won the Nirmal Gram Puraskar this year.

The Union Ministry for Rural Development gives the award to villages that have adopted model sanitation practices.

Thiruvidanthai, about 40 km south of Chennai, on the road to Mahabalipuram, is a unique example that achieved the award by the combined effort of self-help groups, a non-governmental organisation and a corporate social responsibility initiative.

The award was displayed to women from self-help groups and residents at a get-together organised on Thursday.

The village was previously known solely for its temple, one of the 108 Divya Desams and an Archaeological Survey of India monument.

TVS Electronics and Sahishnata Trust joined hands with public institutions on the request of the Secretary of the State Rural Development department, Shantha Sheela Nair.

The initiative to provide complete sanitation facilities began in 2004.

Door-to-door collection of segregated garbage and construction of toilets for individual houses were the major components of the project.

There has been considerable resistance to their work, said S. Fatima, S. Shantha, R. Vasanthi and Mari, the women who collect the garbage. People of their caste have berated them for performing tasks considered hereditary professions of lower castes, they said.

While they collect more than 300 kg of garbage each day, the process of composting on their own compost shed takes around 40 to 45 days.

Having a steady order from big corporate houses would help make the venture sufficient and fulfil their dream of teaching people of other villages. Around 210 toilets have been built in Thiruvidanthai and Therkupatti hamlets with the contribution of the households, government and TVS Electronics.

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