Peddapalli district administration has won the Swachhtha Darpan award for the second consecutive year from the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation at a programme organised in New Delhi on Sunday.
Bollywood actor and founder of Paani Foundation Aamir Khan presented the award to Collector A. Sri Devasena on the occasion. The district, under the leadership of Ms. Devasena, has bagged four national awards under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
It bagged the national award for scoring 100% on wide-ranging parameters of sanitation which include construction and maintenance of toilets, peoples participation, IEC and ODF+s and solid and liquid waste management interventions such as providing dumping yards, segregation of plastic waste, community, individual soak pits etc.
Cent per cent scores
The district achieved 100% coverage of all villages with community toilet blocks for men and women with running water overhead tank, tiled flooring, washbasins, paintings, signboards etc. It also recorded 100% coverage of soak pits to become the country’s first open-drain free district with salutary effect seen in 65% decline in dengue cases as compared to last year.
The district completely banned single-use plastic and promoted non-woven cloth bags provided by women SHGs and helped them secure employment. Peddapalli was acclaimed for the implementation of panchasutras (five-point programme) to achieve cent per cent sanitation in villages.
As per the panchasutras, each household should have soak pit, vermin compost pit, waste segregation at generating points by separating plastics, kitchen garden with leafy vegetables and use of sabala sanitary (biodegradable) napkins by women. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan had also participated in the panchasutra programme recently and appreciated the district administration.