Secretary Rural Development Department and Panchayati Raj, Sheetal Nanda, today chaired the maiden meeting of State Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) for solid waste resource management under Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBMG) here.Secretary said that after achieving substantial progress in the field of Individual Household Latrines, the department is moving towards Open Defecation Free (ODF) plus activities which include measures to enhance solid and liquid waste management.Pertinently, since the inception of the SBMG scheme, the Department has been successful in achieving 100% household-level sanitation coverage by the construction of above 1 lakh individual household latrines in a span of four years. On the occasion, threadbare discussions were held between the members of the Committee and the Rural Department officials for implementation of Solid and Liquid Resource Management projects and GOBAR-DHAN scheme in the State.Secretary asked the members to give their suggestions for making the efforts successful in rural sanitation of the State.
She said 80%population of the state is living in rural areas and their living is dependent upon agriculture. “By making the masses aware, they can produce the organic fertilizers for their farms themselves and this way their farms will be chemical free.”The STAC aims to ensure effective planning and execution of Solid & Liquid Resource Management projects that shall be undertaken in selected villages of the state besides, providing technical expertise on the matters related to bio-composting of organic waste and safe disposal of inorganic waste, with the aim of establishing waste management plants on a “waste to wealth” model.The meeting was attended by Director Rural Sanitation, J&K, InduKanwal Cheb and the nominated members from the STAC including representatives from the departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry, and Renewable Energy along with other concerned institutions like the State Pollution Control Board, Municipal Corporations, University of Kashmir, University of Jammu and Sher-e-Kashmir University for Agricultural Sciences & Technology (SKUAST), besides other concerned.