Housing complexes in Salt Lake may soon be asked to lead the way in waste segregation. And if a proposal materialises, they may even get property tax rebates for their effort. 

A discussion for the same took place at a Poura Bhavan meeting on June 18 between officials of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and Prof Sadhan Kumar Ghosh, president of the International Society of Waste Management, Air and Water (and professor, department of mechanical engineering at Jadavpur University).

At the meeting, Ghosh explained ways to implement waste management inside gated communities and with those like Devashis Jana, mayoral council member in charge of solid waste management and several borough chairpersons, in attendance. 

“According to the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 released on April 8, 2016, all resident welfare and market associations, gated communities and institutions with more than 5,000sq m area shall, within one year from the date of notification of these rules and in partnership with the local body, ensure segregation of waste at source,” said Ghosh. “It has been a while since this rule came into force but in Bengal it has only been faced with opposition. It’s only Diamond City South in Tollygunge that has managed to introduce this system,” he said.

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Separate at source

The project has been titled Decentralised Waste Management in Housing Complexes and Gated Communities and will be taken up shortly and implemented by the civic body in August this year. Before that, in the first week of July, meetings and awareness camps will be conducted where Ghosh and the municipal administration will explain the model. Municipal sources also said that they may introduce a property tax rebate to encourage residents to cooperate. 

Each of the housing complexes that have total area of 5,000sq m or more will be considered in the first phase of project implementation as per the requirements of Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. The societies will have to install a system of source segregation at the household level and again a second level separation system of dry wastes. 

This means households will have to segregate their waste right from the start. On each floor of these buildings will be dustbins coloured green (for biodegradable waste like vegetable peels and paper), white or blue (non-biodegradable waste like thermocol and plastic), and black (for medical waste like syringes, bandages) respectively.

The societies will also have to set up composting units, at a cost of about Rs 5,000. They will need to hire housekeeping staff and gardeners to operate the same. The compost or manure produced out of wet waste like vegetable peels, flowers etc can be used within the complex or sold. 

“All biodegradable waste shall be processed, treated and disposed off through composting or bio-methanation (creation of methane gas) within the complex premises as far as possible. The residual waste shall be given to the waste collectors or agencies as directed by the local body,” said Ghosh.

Jana is upbeat about the project. “This venture will greatly reduce the pressure on the corporation. At present, 35 trucks containing three tonnes of garbage each are emptied into Mollar Bheri every day. This move will reduce the landfill,” Jana said. 

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Dumpyard in danger

Mollar Bheri, Salt Lake’s dumping yard behind Sector V, is in an alarming state. It has heaps of plastic bags, bottles, hay and what not. Much of the garbage is beyond recognition but the over-powering smell indicates that there is rotting food too. 

A visit on Wednesday revealed how rainwater has created puddles and playing in the slush were pigs. There are lots of goats along with a few dogs, cows and birds foraging but most of all there are rag pickers, nearly 100 of whom seem to visit daily. “We mostly pick up Mother Dairy milk packets. They sell at Rs 12/kg and if we search hard, we get 2.5kg a day,” said Biswajit Mondal. 

The dump yard is surrounding almost completely by the bheris, that is a fragile ecosystem. To prevent the garbage from rolling into the water a wooden fence has recently been built along the periphery. At the same time two bulldozers work to level the heaps of trash.

Composting would reduce the volume of rubbish that reaches Mollar Bheri and waste segregation would reduce the damage done to the soil there. A housing complex with 200 flats would be able to treat nearly 70-100 tons of waste per year in-house that will not find its way to Mollar Bheri.

“If all the complexes can be brought under the umbrella of this model, a huge quantity of waste may be avoided. Handling costs would reduce and a clean and green city could be aspired for, with effective utilisation of resources and employment generation,” Jana said. 

Once the project takes off at the housing complex level, the corporation would rope in hotels and restaurants too.

Residentspeak

Housing complexes in Salt Lake include Karunamoyee, Purbachal, Labony Estate, Vidyasagar Abasan, Falguni Abasan and Srabani. Swati Halder of E Block in Karunamoyee is optimistic. “This may mean some extra effort but it would be beneficial in the long run. The training would be crucial to operate the composter.”

Gana Unnayan Parishad, an NGO that works with rag pickers and hawkers in Salt Lake, welcomes the move too. “Waste segregation will control the landfill and help the cause of the environment,” said Samaresh Mukherjee of the NGO. 

PROFIT PATHS

How a housing complex stands to gain from waste segregation 

1.Complexes would be required to set up composting units that would convert organic waste into manure. This can be sold. 
2.The gases released during the production of compost has a market and can be sold too. 
3.The inorganic waste such as plastic and thermocol would be sold to companies to recycle.
4.A property tax rebate might be offered, if talks materialise 
5.Employment generation in terms of hiring a compost manufacturer, waste segregator, security guard etc. 
6.The residents get to do their bit for the environment.

Input from Brinda Sarkar