Mangaluru Ramakrishna Mission has plans to convert the city’s solid waste dumping yard at Pachchanadi as “Swatchanadi” and preparations are afoot, said Mission’s Swatch Mangaluru convener Swami Ekagamyananda on Saturday.
He was delivering the keynote address at a workshop on “waste management; challenges and opportunities,” organised by Mangala Resource Management Pvt. Ltd., a startup initiated by the mission in association with Sahyadri Institute of Technology and Management.
The swami said following a five-year cleanliness drive in Mangaluru undertaken by the mission, much awareness was created among residents. Many opted for pot-composting method to manage wet waste generated in their houses. Similarly, the startup took up waste management of Uppinangady town in Dakshina Kannada district that has become successful within a year. The town has about one thousand each houses and shops; while waste from shops was being collected, 95% of wet waste from households was being converted into manure, Sri. Ekagamyananda said. While about 50 tonnes of manure was produced in a year, 50 tonnes of dry waste was given for recycling and ₹4 lakh revenue was generated.
If Uppinangady could become a success model, why Mangaluru should not, the swami asked. There was no need of procuring extra machinery; but with the available resources and enhanced manpower, Mangaluru could be made waste-free, he said.
Inaugurating the workshop, Mangaluru Mayor Premananda Shetty said when people were disposing off their waste at houses, the Corporation was getting about 125 tonnes of waste a day. Upon MCC collecting solid waste management cess, people began to send all kinds of waste and waste generation increased to 250 tonnes as people stopped segregating waste at home. As such, a clear plan needs to be chalked out to clear the waste accumulated at Pachchanady, the Mayor said.
Davanagere Mayor S.T. Veeresh said his city too was finding difficulty in managing solid waste that had got accumulated over the years. Davanagere City Corporation would chalk out a plan under guidance from Ramakrishna Mission, he said, adding he was in Mangaluru to study the model.
Swami Prakashananda from Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mutt, former MLC Ganesh Karnik, Ranebennur, startup’s managing director Dilraj Alva and others were present.
