Mahbubnagar: 3 Palamuru villages show way for others in development

Mahbubnagar: Achieving the set targets of all the government schemes and development programmes in a time-bound manner, the villages of Katavaram in Addakula mandal, Rudraram of Nawabpet mandal and Gundlapotlapally of Rajapur mandal in Mahbubnagar district have achieved the unique distinction of bagging the Best Gram Panchayat tag at Central government level. Recently, these three villages have been selected by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for the pilot project of Swachh Bharat scheme launched by the Central government.

According to District Collector Ronald Rose, these three villages have achieved cent per cent success in construction of Individual Household Latrines (IHLs), sink pits, garbage management and implementation of Haritha Haram programme and have been selected as the Best Gram Panchayat by the NGT for launching the Swachh Bharat pilot project because among all the 468 gram panchayats, only three gram panchayats have achieved all the development parameters.

"We have selected Katavaram, Rudraram and Gundlapotlapally from the district for the implementation of Swachh Bharat pilot project. These villages have achieved all parameters of development in the set targeted time period and are performing very well. All the credit goes to the village Sarpanches, the local panchayat officials and the people at large. I wish all other villages also follow the footsteps of these villages and hope to see the entire Mahbubnagar district emerge as the best district in the country," the Collector said.

Not just achieving the best practices of clean and green aspects in the villages, these three villages have also emerged as the best villages in cent per cent collection of house taxes. "In our village, every household has planted at least five saplings and we have also ensured that they are protected by tree guards. Not just this, we have also formed teams in our village lead by Sarpanch, ward members, women groups and youth association members to create awareness about the bad effects of open defecation and benefits of using toilets and household latrines," said Raghuveer, a villager from Gundlapotlapally of Rajapur mandal.

If anyone violates the rules and goes out for the open defecation, the villages have decided to impose a fine of Rs 500. Fearing this, almost all the people in these villages are utilising IHLs and are now living in a healthy environment, he said.

The Katavaram village has a population of 1,072 and has 217 households. While all the households have IHLs, 213 households boast of sink pits. The village has also achieved 100 per cent tax collection and also established dumping yards. While people have planted 16,000 saplings, of them, around 1,200 of them are protected using the tree guards.

In Rudraram village, there are 1,795 people living in 360 households. The village has constructed 357 IHLs, 190 sink pits and planted 17,000 plants, of them, 931 are projected using the tree guards.

Gundlapotlapally village has 966 people living in 248 households and all them have IHLs. This village has constructed 142 sink pits and planted nearly 12,000 plants of which 1,362 are protected using the tree guards.

"These three villages have attained cent per cent development and have been selected for the Swachh Bharat pilot programme. Very soon, the government will also release additional funds for these villages for further development. I wish many more villages to take these villages as examples and achieve the distinction of best villages in the district," said Venkatesharlu, District Planning Officer, Mahbubnagar.