OdishaPlus Bureau
In a path-breaking decision towards women empowerment and inclusive sanitation, the State Government on Friday handed over the operation and maintenance (O&M) of four septage treatment plants (SeTPs) to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the State. The treatment facilities were handed over to women SHGs in Berhampur, Baripada, and Sambalpur and to a transgender SHG in Cuttack through a contract agreement signed between the SHG and the ULBs at an event presided over by the Panchayati Raj & DW, Law, Housing and Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena held through video conference.
Jena on the occasion said that SHGs are now at the forefront of all development activities including sanitation in Odisha and have proven their ability time and again. Women SHGs have been managing the operation and maintenance of community toilets very well across several cities in the State.
Now we have taken the decision of handing over the O&M of SeTPs to the SHGs for better community ownership and participation, he said adding, “We are happy that the transgender & women SHGs have come up to the level of managing a Septage treatment facility which requires technical and managerial skills which were earlier managed by engineers of the department.”
“Community managed sanitation infrastructure not only results in community ownership but also makes it more sustainable in the longer run,” said the Principal Secretary, H&UDD G Mathi Vathanan on the novel initiative.
“The SHGs have been chosen after careful evaluation of their capacities and past track record and have been trained thoroughly and rigorously on different aspects of O&M,” he said. The treatment plants were handed over to the SHGs through a service contract between the concerned Urban Local Body (ULB) and the SHGs. The ULBs will continue to provide technical and handholding assistance technical support shall continue to the SHGs during the agreement period to make the partnership successful.
Notably, Odisha has been a frontrunner in Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) in the Country; with this initiative, it has now gone to another level of community management of sanitation facilities and building sustainable measures. Besides these current four cities, SHGs will also be engaged in the other functional as well as future SeTPs. This is possible due to the efforts of our team & its commitment to empowering the vulnerable groups achieved through appropriate capacity& confidence-building measures.
“It is a momentous event for the SHGs and all our members involved in this activity. We have completed the training on the O&M of the plant and are really excited to take over the management,” said Swapna Rani Tripathy, a member of the Agrata City Level Federation (CLF) of SHGs that have taken over the O&M of the plant located in Mohuda in Berhampur.
The selected group members are excited about this new business opportunity and proud of taking over the new responsibilities. The SHGs will now be responsible for the daily O&M of the SeTPs which includes –managing the entry of all cesspool vehicles for discharging fecal sludge at the plant, regular treatment, minor repairs, upkeep of the plant and management of the staffs, etc.
The septage plants will also reuse the treated water and sludge by using the treated sludge as co-compost for the nursery set up near the plant and the wastewater for watering the plants and lawns. With more than 90 additional septage treatment plants coming up in the state by next year, and with more than 32,000 existing SHGs across 114 towns and cities, community engagement for operation and maintenance of sanitation facilities holds enormous potential.