Panchayats
Panchayats are not only playing an important role for development of villages in J&K, but they are also playing a role for the environment.
Recently Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir asked his officers to ensure functionality of assets created for rural sanitation.
He reviewed the plan for carbon neutrality of panchayats in entire Jammu and Kashmir.
Regarding the promulgation and execution of carbon neutral plan for the panchayats of the UT as envisioned by the Prime Minister, the Chief Secretary upheld that interdepartmental coordination and synergy should be shown to make it successful. He also encouraged them to conduct the survey of the villages by experts to estimate the carbon these villages produce and the possible remedial measures to be taken there.
In his presentation the Secretary, Rural Development Department, Shahid Iqbal Choudhury gave an in-depth description of the measures and achievements registered by the department in implementation of the mission. He revealed that all the 6650 villages of the UT have been declared ODF+ in August last year after complying with the guidelines for the same. He apprised the meeting that both the Solid Waste and Liquid Waste Management in these villages have been upgraded and drainage facilities provided to the villages either. It was revealed that a total of 2,36,137 SWM assets, 923331 assets for Grey Water Management (GWM), 80 Plastic Waste Management Units (PWMU), 7 Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants and 3 Gobar Dhan Plants including 17,20,765 individual household latrines (IHHLs) have been raised by the department in rural areas.
