The Hindu             26.11.2013

Garbage disposal is not a ‘pipe dream’ in Puttur

Residents of Chikmudnoor village of Puttur taluk in
Dakshina Kannada have opted for an innovative way to dispose of garbage.
Using pipe composting, they are converting biodegradable waste into
manure.

Anita is one among 400 residents in the
village who have installed the system at her home. “I put waste from the
kitchen into the pipe. It has been functioning smoothly so far,” she
said. The success of the project has prompted the Puttur Town Municipal
Council to implement it in all houses across Puttur taluk by 2014.

Introduced
by the Karnataka Integrated Development Society (KIDS), the pipe
composting system consists of two six-ft-long pipes, with around
one-ft-long part of the pipe buried underground. Kitchen waste is put
into one pipe and when it is filled, the second pipe can be used. By the
time the second pipe is filled, contents of the first one would have
turned into manure.

M.H. Sudhakar, chief officer,
Puttur TMC, said the TMC would implement pipe composting in all 27
wards. Now, only four wards (50 houses in Kemmai, seven houses in
Banglegudde, a few offices in Nellikatte and one house in Samethadka)
have implemented it.

The system can be an alternative
to the door-to-door collection of system in which labourers hired by
the TMC collect waste from houses. Getting labourers for the job is
tough as they want higher wages than what the municipality can offer.

Sahana
D. C., environment engineer, TMC, Puttur, said if waste segregation was
implemented properly, the municipality need to collect only dry waste
on specific days.

Dayananda Poojari, vice-president
of the neighbouring Nelyady Grama Panchayat, said even their panchayat
was encouraging the system and 20 families had bought pipes.

Ravichandra,
project officer, KIDS, said installing it was not all expensive as a
10-ft long cement pipe would cost only Rs. 350. It could be cut in to
two. “Jaggery and cow dung is used to start decomposing and buttermilk
will speed up the process. The manure is formed in two months and it can
be sold for Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 a kg,” he said.

However,
the system has its own practical difficulties too. Dajamma, another
resident of Chikmudnoor found the pipes filled with water. Mr.
Ravichandra, who found rice ‘ganji’ in it, said only solid waste should
be dumped into it.

John Kunnithethu, executive
director, KIDS, said the idea was implemented first in
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, where the government gives a subsidy for the
scheme.