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Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani on Tuesday commissioned the first faecal sludge treatment centre in Periyanaickenpalayam.

A release from the district administration said the ₹2.48-crore plant, set up on a 1.5-acre plot near the Resource Recovery Park in Periyanaickenpalayam, was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and commissioned with the support of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and Keystone Foundation.

Waste from public convenience facilities and private toilets in all the wards in the Periyanaickenpalayam and Narasimhanaickenpalayam town panchayats were taken to the plant for treatment. The nearby Gudalur, No. 4 Veerapandi and Idigarai town panchayats would also benefit from the plant, which would process around 25,000 litre waste using electro mechanical method.

The release, quoting Mr. Velumani, said the plant would help town panchayats that were not as populated as municipalities and municipal corporation, where sewage treatment plant was set up as part of the underground drainage system.

And, this was the first time in the State that such a faecal sludge treatment system was commissioned.

Liquid and solid waste would be separated at the treatment centre. The liquid waste would be used at the nearby Resource Recovery Park and the solid waste would processed into manure for distribution to farmers. And, as a result of processing the faecal sludge, the ground water and environment were protected, the release added.