STAFF CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: Assam Branch Indian Tea Association (ABITA), with the support of UNICEF, Assam, organized a virtual orientation programme on Solid Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) under Swachh Bharat Mission (G) Phase II for the Welfare Officers of tea gardens on Thursday.
In total 102 Welfare Officers from different tea gardens of eight districts, namely Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Sonitpur, Biswanath and Udalguri under ABITA Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3 participated.
The objective of the orientation was to apprise the Welfare Officers about Swachh Bharat Mission (Garmin) Phase II. The virtual orientation broadly covered the detailed information of SBM (G) Phase II and Solid Liquid Waste Management initiative. The programme focused to continue sustainable open defecation status in tea gardens in support with SBM (G).
At the beginning, the WASH specialist UNICEF Assam, Tithal Parmer welcomed all the participants and shared about the objective and expected outcome of the programme. Bornali Ghosh, WASH Monitoring Specialist, spoke about SBM Phase II. During her presentation, she highlighted the components of SBM Phase II; guiding principles for implementation; role of welfare officer for IEC; area of convergence with line departments and possibilities of MoU for effective implementation of SBM Phase II in tea gardens. She also focused on the Community Managed Sanitary Complex model in tea gardens, especially in the plantation area, which will be beneficial for the tea garden workers.
Saji Sebastian, Executive Director, Socio Economic Unit Foundation of Kerala, shared his experience on solid and liquid waste management practices being implemented in Kerala where he shared how Kerala was successfully implementing the policies to manage the waste in urban and rural areas.
State SLWM Specialist, PHED, Assam, Dipon Patowary gave a presentation on Solid Liquid Waste Management in tea gardens. He spoke about bio-degradable waste management; composting (household level and community level); plastic waste management; construction of assets and support from the government for solid waste management and operational and maintenance of SLWM facilities.
Secretary, ABITA Zone 1 Madhurjya Barooah, thanked UNICEF Assam and State Swachh Bharat Mission (G) team for their cooperation and providing technical guidance for the training. He also expressed his gratitude to all the welfare officers for successfully participating in the virtual programme.
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