Terra Madre village turns 'Nirmal' to welcome intertiol guests

FROM OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, Oct 31: Wakringtonggre a small militancy hit village 11 kilometres from Rongram scripted a success story and made heads turn when as per revised checklist of Swachh Bharat Mission, the entire village got together to declare itself ‘Nirmal’ or ‘Open Defecation Free’, the deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills, Pravin Bakshi informed on Saturday.

In a modest programme held on October 29, all 52-odd households not only declared themselves open defecation free but also took a pledge for sustaining the sanitation campaign and litter free campaign which are central to the declaration under the flagship programme of Swachh Bharat Mission. For this remarkable feat the village was given a certificate issued from the Deputy Commissioner who is also the Chairman of the District Water and Sanitation Mission, West Garo Hills. A big size trophy was also handed over to the Village Water & Sanitation Committee and the congratulatory message from the Deputy Commissioner, West Garo Hills was also read out in the village. The villagers celebrated the feat with a indigenous cuisine party in the village itself. The village Wakringtonggre is a remote village and is militancy affected. The feat of achieving ‘Nirmal’ status is a major morale booster for the village people who were overjoyed on being chosen as the Intertiol Terra Madre festival theme village apart from five other villages. There would be visits from guests and delegates even from foreign countries during the Intertiol Terra Madre festival in the first week of November and the village shall have ample opportunities to showcase the rich Achik culture and tradition, cuisine, folklore, music and dance during the festivities apart from proudly displaying their status as a clean and green and open defecation free ‘nirmal’ village.