CHENNAI: The ‘Neer Ezhil Palli’ initiative, a dedicated water stewardship programme which seeks to transform government schools into climate-resilient and water-secure campuses, was inaugurated at the Presidency Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Egmore by School Education Minister A Rajmohan on Wednesday.
Under the initiative, each participating school will be equipped with a wetland-based wastewater treatment system capable of treating and reusing around 25,000 litres of wastewater daily. The treated water will be reused within school campuses, while excess water will be diverted to recharge wells to replenish groundwater.
The project is being implemented by the school education department with support from the Tamil Nadu Green Climate Company (TNGCC) after the success of ‘Water Balance’ model implemented at Little Flower Convent School in Chennai.
In the first phase, the project will be implemented in five government girls higher secondary schools at Egmore, Ashok Nagar, Porur, Villivakkam and Ambattur. All of these schools have more than 1,000 students and officials said that these students would be encouraged to implement water conservation at home as well. It will later be expanded to 10 more government schools.
The project is funded through a partnership between Microsoft and SIV Impact, and is being implemented by the BlueGreen Enviro Foundation, Chennai Resilience Centre (CRC) and Care Earth Trust (CET). Besides bearing the cost of installing the treatment systems, the project partners will also provide 10-years operation and maintenance support to ensure their long-term functioning.
Officials said the initiative will promote water security, improve biodiversity, create greener campuses and provide students with practical lessons in environmental sustainability.