The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : DRDA helps Kizhamur residents construct toilets in their houses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 27, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

DRDA helps Kizhamur residents construct toilets in their houses

V. Venkatasubramanian

Each family was given a subsidy of Rs. 1,200

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

TOWARDS SANITATION: A septic tank constructed at a house at Pasuvankaranai in the Acharapakkam block in Kancheepuram district.

KANCHEEPURAM : Exposure to a safe method for disposal of faecal matter and the convenience in using toilets seem to have motivated the residents of Kizhamur panchayat in the Achirapakkam block to construct toilets in their respective dwelling units.

As the village is situated in a plateau surrounded by reserve forest area, they face an imminent threat to their lives from poisonous insects and snakes when they move into secluded areas for defecation.

At the same time, some of the villagers, whose relatives had migrated and settled in Chennai, realised that a toilet in their backyard would help them avoid these problems and as well as help prevent polluting the environment. Thus, they had set up toilet linked to septic tank near their houses, which has indeed attracted the attention of others.

Talking to reporters, a farmer, Kumar (35) of Pasuvankaranai hamlet coming under Kizhamur village panchayat, said he had constructed the toilet in his backyard as his younger brothers and other relatives coming from Chennai found it difficult to defecate in the open.

High cost

However, several villagers were unable to turn their dreams into reality as the cost involved in construction of toilets with septic tank facility hovered around Rs.13,000 to Rs.15,000.

At this juncture, the District Rural Development Agency chipped in with an awareness-cum-motivation campaign to promote the concept of low-cost toilets with a proven safe and environmental-friendly disposal method.

Attracted by the concept, promoted under the Total Sanitation Campaign programme, around 275 families in the panchayat have expressed their willingness to set up individual household toilets under TSC programme, for which a subsidy of Rs.1,200 provided to each toilet, said the Collector, Pradeep Yadav, who inaugurated the scheme at the panchayat on December 17.

To ensure effective implementation, a women's self-help group in the village has been selected as the executing agency for construction of toilets, each costing around Rs.2,000. While the subsidy amount will be deposited in the bank account of the SHG and the beneficiary is expected to offer his/her labour or materials in the form of bricks or sand for the remaining amount of Rs.800, he added.

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