The Hindu Business Line : A `clean' chit for Semmipalayam village

FOUR hamlets under the Semmipalayam panchayat, some 32 km from here, come under the core of the rainshadow region. The vast arid lands are tilled to raise sorghum/maize and floral crops, such as kanakambaram, which supplement the villagers' income. .

Compelled by the need to retain the groundwater table levels, the villagers have willingly taken to implementing any water conservation/sanitation programme that integrates with their existing infrastructure. This drive and the wherewithal of the 1,600-odd residents, combined with various State Government-sponsored schemes have fetched them good returns in terms of community development and better infrastructure.

Semmipalayam village is, perhaps, the first village cluster in the district to have 100 per cent protected drinking water. It is also credited with completely eliminating `open defecation', a practice still prevalent in rural pockets.

All the 1,600 houses in the village have individual latrines and 1,450 houses have separate water connections for which they bear the user charges, said Mr V. Palanisamy, Chairman of the Semmipalayam panchayat. With the average monthly income of families at Rs 2,000 and above, there has been no default in tax collectionfor the past two years, Mr Palanisamy said.

If the villagers got four check dams to store rainwater for recharging ground water erected in a record five months under the drought-prone area project, and put together the night soil-linked bio-gas plant which supplies power to the integrated sanitary complex for women and children, it is thanks largely to the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), which has brought about greater fusion between the various functionaries to turn Semmipalayam into a `clean village'. The model bio-gas plant also meets the energy requirements of the nearby Anganwadi school.

Another facility in the village is the wind mill, which is used to pump water from the borewells for the primary and high schools and also meet domestic . Set up at a cost of Rs 1.4 lakh, the wind mill has helped the panchayat cut down its power bill by Rs 1,000 every month, which it would have otherwise spent on pumping water, said Mr Jayabalakrishnan, Project Officer of the DRDA.

To make the rural sanitation project operation in Semmipalayam wholesome, the DRDA has ushered in solid waste management by introducing the effective system of garbage collection and waste segregation at source.

Impressed by the success in implementing the water/sanitation projects and the self-help group-propelled community development endeavours achieved by the village, the district administration has short-listed Semmipalayam village panchayat from among the 15 `clean' villages in the district for acclamation as the `clean' village at the national level.

"We are recommending to the Central Government both Semmipalayam village and Odanthurai village for being recognised as cleaner villages at the national level," said Mr N Muruganandam, Collector, Coimbatore District.

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