The Hindu 07.09.2009
Micro-organisms to help manage city waste
Aloysius Xavier Lopez
EFFECTIVE SOLUTION: The decision to use Effective Micro-organisms is part of the monsoon preparedness work of Chennai Corporation. A file picture of Kodungaiyur dump yard.
CHENNAI: Thousands of residents of Kodungaiyur and Perungudi may breathe easy in the coming months as the Chennai Corporation is planning to use Effective Micro-organisms to cope with health hazards associated with the dump yards in the two places.
This is part of the monsoon preparedness efforts of the civic body to protect residents of the localities near the dump yards from fetid smell, a plague of mosquitoes and flies and the fear of malaria and other fevers.
The Corporation will start using the bio-solution in a week, said Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni.
Effective Microorganisms is a combination of various naturally occurring beneficial micro-organisms mostly found in foods, including phototrophic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeast.
These secrete beneficial substances such as vitamins, organic acids, chelated minerals and antioxidants when they come into contact with organic matter in the dump yards.
“As the smell becomes unbearable after the rains, we are taking measures to do it before the onset of the north-east monsoon,” said Mr. Lakhoni.
The organisms applied in liquid form to the solid waste would speed up the process of converting it into biofertilizer. The odour from the waste can be managed as it is converted into harmless and useful products.
Decomposition of waste usually takes several months, but with the help of these micro-organisms it will take only four to six weeks.
The micro-organisms would also change soil micro flora and fauna so that disease-inducing soil becomes disease-suppressing soil.
