Panchkula village’s 5-pond system catches Modi’s eye

Amit Bathla

Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 31

It was nothing short of a reward for the Batour village panchayat when their efforts to address the drainage issues in the region were appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his monthly radio programme, “Mann Ki Baat”, today.

What modi said

Batour village was facing the problem of drainage. Residents recognised an opportunity even in the wastewater. The panchayat started filtering dirty water coming from the village after collecting it at a spot. The filtered water is now being used by farmers for irrigation purposes. – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

The village in Barwala block has a population of around 6,000. It was dealing with sewerage water issues for a long time until the newly elected panchayat in 2016 came up with a five-pond system to overcome the problem of filthy water and use it for irrigation instead.

The Prime Minister, in his address, said: “Batour village was facing the problem of drainage. Because of this, dirty water had accumulated in the region and diseases were spreading. However, residents recognised an opportunity even in the wastewater. The panchayat started filtering the dirty water coming from the village after collecting it at a spot. The filtered water is now being used by farmers of the village, thereby liberating the region of pollution, filth and diseases and irrigating the fields also.”

Laxman Dass, who became the village sarpanch in 2016, said: “Earlier, the drainage system of the village was hardly functioning and managing wastewater in the village was a challenge. We then decided to adopt the five-pond system, wastewater stabilisation ponds (WSPs), to resolve the issue. Under the technology, five compartments or ponds were built where the sewerage water generated from all houses is taken for treatment.”

The purification begins at the first pond where floating material is separated from the wastewater. Then, it passes through at least three ponds before being transferred to the fifth or maturation pond.

From there on, water can be used for irrigation in the fields through motor pumps.

The direct beneficiaries of the project are marginal farmers, who were earlier heavily dependent on tubewells. Also, the village panchayat gives these ponds on a lease for fishing. The revenue from it is used for village development works.

“The water is good. We don’t need to use too much fertilisers to improve the crop quality,” said Magi Ram, a farmer.

Mukesh Kumar Pandit, another villager, said the Prime Minister’s reference to their village in his “Mann Ki Baat” programme filled them with a sense of pride.

Haryana Speaker and local MLA Gian Chand Gupta, who visited the village soon after the

PM’s mention, congratulated village representatives for their efforts to develop the region. “The acknowledgement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi has brought the village on the national and world map,” he said.