This story is from September 17, 2017

Mumbai looks for ways to convert trash into treasure ahead of October 2 cut-off

What a magician does to a coffin, a man in Chembur did to a massive water tank three months ago. On the behest of the Avanti Niketan Cooperative Society, the hardware expert sliced the unused tank down the middle to give it a new, purposeful life.
Mumbai looks for ways to convert trash into treasure ahead of October 2 cut-off
What a magician does to a coffin, a man in Chembur did to a massive water tank three months ago. On the behest of the Avanti Niketan Cooperative Society, the hardware expert sliced the unused tank down the middle to give it a new, purposeful life. One of its two halves now stands under a tarpaulin shelter that the complex's cleaner, Shankar mama, visits every morning with leaves plucked from the complex garden and fertilizer that smells like rainsoaked earth.
As he creates lay ers of leaves, fertilizer and wet garbage from the complex's 144 flats, Meena Kanakia, head of the complex's committee, oversees.
Through the mesh-like lid of the tank, she has seen the damp mixture harden into a dry, odourless manure and, today , like a student awaiting results, she is eager to know its grade.
It was Kanakia who--on the insistence of the NGO Ecorox — had decided to enlist fellow committee members to invest in the Rs 35,000-worth shelter and Rs 10,000-worth fertilizers. Convincing residents wasn't easy as some were sceptical about the ease of implementation. “Today nearly 90% are on board,“ said Kanakia, who got an NGO worker to come in every day for ten days to explain the bin composting process to Shankar mama. Today, this wet garbage composting bin stands as another proud accessory in this complex, making it prepped and ready for October 2 — BMC's deadline for housing complexes that produce over 100 kg of waste daily or that have an area above 20,000 sqm to compost wet waste on their premises draws closer.From that day on, wet waste from such societies will not be collected and BMC trucks will pick up only dry trash.
In a blind poll that TOI conducted of ten such societies across the city , it emerged that while a few were still clueless about the deadline and others sceptical of it, many were embracing the challenge. Versova's 150-flat-strong Everest Apartments, for instance, got two tumbler composting bins installed in the premises earlier this month. “We are only testing them out at the moment and have received them on a tri al basis,“ said Phiroz Shah, a resident.
The deadline has even inspired some creative thinking.Sunflower at Cuffe Parade, for instance, is not only re-training residents and domestic help on how to segregate waste but is also contemplating installing a TV in the lift which will play a video explaining the benefits of composting wet waste. At Juhu's Mandar Society , on the other hand, Gulshan Gandhi attended an exhibition on composting conducted by BMC which inspired him to implement the process in his building. He also visited other societies where wet waste is com posted to understand the process. Gandhi then convinced residents to create a pit and start composting wet waste but the process wasn't happening properly . So, they have recently installed a tumbler compos ting bin and are in the process of buying a wet waste composer, which is taking longer than expected because manufacturing units aren't geared for such high demand.

However, concerns continue to litter some complexes.
Residents of Tytan at Napean Sea Road are waiting for the authorities to demonstrate how to compost wet waste. The re are other challenges. Jayant Shetty of Dindoshi's 675-flatstrong Raheja Complex said he knew about the deadline but that it was impossible to compost wet waste in the society .“There is no place in our society for composting and we are worried about the stench if we create a composting pit,“ said Shetty , adding that the composting pit will not only need a financial investment of Rs 78 lakh and but also time. “It will take around six months to build which is a lot of time,“ said Shetty . “We can't do it on our own.“
(Inputs by Sakina Mamuwala)
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