Jaipur: The residents of Inana country in Nagaur The district organizes most of its wedding celebrations and social programs in a garden measuring about 180 feet by 100 feet. New visitors to the village find it hard to believe that there was a pond full of gray water coming out of the bathrooms and kitchens of nearby houses just five years ago.
The stench emanated from the pond, and it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, making almost 10,000 villagers want to repair and make the area hygienic. In 2018, they approached the district magistrate, looking for a solution, and the matter was forwarded to the local. public health and engineering department (PHED) officials.
“We were not sure how to deal with this pond that had made the general atmosphere of the village unhealthy. Thanks to the state government, the place has become a beautiful garden. We gather every evening and during holidays and organize social events here ,” said Rajendra Enaniyan, a resident of Inana, which is about 13 km from Nagaur, the district headquarters town.
Speaking to VOI, PHED executive engineer JK Charan, who supervised this project, said that the department first decided to set up a gray water treatment plant at the site of the pond. Such a plant was unheard of in rural Rajasthan and possibly the entire country at the time. A detailed project report (DPR) for the plant has been prepared, with the project cost estimated at Rs 20 lakh. When the PHED refused to pay the bill, a cement manufacturing company operating in the country was approached.
“We asked the company to finance the project through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme, and they agreed. We built a treatment plant near the pond, where gray water continues to be treated. The pond is has been converted into a garden and has been handed over to the local panchayat,” Charan said.
For the past five years, the panchayat has been maintaining the garden by renting it out to local villagers for social functions. While the cement plant uses some of the treated water for its factory, the rest is used by the panchayat to maintain the plants in this garden. “The central government wants to focus on gray water treatment plants in the second phase of the Jal Jeevan mission. Rajasthan has already shown the way in setting up such a plant in the rural area, even about ten months before the start of JJM,” said Charan.
The stench emanated from the pond, and it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, making almost 10,000 villagers want to repair and make the area hygienic. In 2018, they approached the district magistrate, looking for a solution, and the matter was forwarded to the local. public health and engineering department (PHED) officials.
“We were not sure how to deal with this pond that had made the general atmosphere of the village unhealthy. Thanks to the state government, the place has become a beautiful garden. We gather every evening and during holidays and organize social events here ,” said Rajendra Enaniyan, a resident of Inana, which is about 13 km from Nagaur, the district headquarters town.
Speaking to VOI, PHED executive engineer JK Charan, who supervised this project, said that the department first decided to set up a gray water treatment plant at the site of the pond. Such a plant was unheard of in rural Rajasthan and possibly the entire country at the time. A detailed project report (DPR) for the plant has been prepared, with the project cost estimated at Rs 20 lakh. When the PHED refused to pay the bill, a cement manufacturing company operating in the country was approached.
“We asked the company to finance the project through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme, and they agreed. We built a treatment plant near the pond, where gray water continues to be treated. The pond is has been converted into a garden and has been handed over to the local panchayat,” Charan said.
For the past five years, the panchayat has been maintaining the garden by renting it out to local villagers for social functions. While the cement plant uses some of the treated water for its factory, the rest is used by the panchayat to maintain the plants in this garden. “The central government wants to focus on gray water treatment plants in the second phase of the Jal Jeevan mission. Rajasthan has already shown the way in setting up such a plant in the rural area, even about ten months before the start of JJM,” said Charan.
