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TRICHY: A team of officials from National Institute of Urban Affairs comprising bureaucrats and senior officials representing urban local bodies in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand visited waste management infrastructure in Trichy and Tiruvarur districts recently. The team visited pilot projects initiated by Tamil Nadu urban sanitation support programme (TNUSSP) and city-wide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) to understand inclusive practices implemented through engineering interventions for urban poor and people with disabilities to emulate the same in their local bodies.

The inclusive sanitation approach of Trichy city taken up under TNUSSP and the corporation was explained by technical experts. Around 19 officials, including additional directors, engineers and representatives of municipal councils engaged in Swachh Bharat mission in five states, visited the city. The rehabilitation project improving the condition of a septic tank in one of the community toilets at RMS Colony in E Pudur was explained to the visitors. The team was told that soil and water pollution due to the toilet’s containment was cleared after the infrastructure upgrade. Improvement measures made at the decanting station in Khajamalai were also explained.

The visitors interacted with different categories of sanitation workers and poor households to understand the livelihood and occupational well-being activities carried out under inclusive sanitation programmes. Trichy is one of four cities in India and the only one from Tamil Nadu selected under CWIS, a project to evolve the best sanitation model for sustainable living. The team also visited the faecal sludge waste management infrastructure in Thuraiyur town in Trichy district and Mannargudi town in Tiruvarur.