Musiri and Tiruchi have come to be considered as the sanitation capital of Tamil Nadu owing to the adoption and popularisation of new models of solid and liquid waste management, Arun Dhobal, Water and Environmental Specialist, UNICEF, Chennai, said at the inauguration of the integrated ecological sanitation facility at a middle school in Musiri on Monday.
Ecosan toilet has been accepted by the Central Government under the Total Sanitation campaign as a solution specifically for rocky, hilly, coastal, high-water table and water-scarce areas. The model has proved to be a total solution for management of human waste, Mr. Arun Dhobal said.
He complimented the Tiruchi-based SCOPE for pioneering the concept and successfully demonstrating use of urine and human waste compost as a rich nutrient for increasing agricultural productivity. The model was also helpful in saving water.
Tiruchi, he said, had also set good examples for similar sanitation related initiatives like solid waste management and menstrual hygiene management. UNICEF will continue to extend support to NGOs and other organizations working in the field of women development and welfare of children, he said.
M.Subburaman, SCOPE Director, said the school was provided with Ecosan toilets and urinals. Installation of sanitary napkin disposal facility, urine usage for gardening and rainwater harvesting and solid waste management were made possible with UNICEF support. Musiri accounts for over 400 individual ecosan toilets and three ecosan community compost toilets, he said..
V.C.Sudhakar, president of Musiri town panchayat, presided over. The UNICEF has provided the facilities worth Rs. 6.5 lakh to the school, he said.
Anselm Rosario of Mythri Sarva Seva Samithi, Bangalore; Lucas Dengel of Eco Pro Auroville; V.Ganapathy, vice president, Association for Improvement of Musiri, and Swagata Pillai of iMacs/ KEN, New Delhi, offered felicitations. P.Srinivasan Headmaster of the school welcomed the gathering. S.Manickam. D.Panneerselvam, Panchayat Union Commissioner, also spoke.
Earlier a ‘pancha bhuth maha yagam’ to propitiate earth, water, air, fire & space was performed on the banks of the river Cauvery to symbolize how Ecosan toilets was environmentally friendly and prevented pollution of the five elements.
