Batala on way to becoming Punjab’s first zero waste city

BATALA: Batala Municipal Corporation (BMC) has become the first civic body in Punjab to implement zero waste management by converting the domestic waste into organic compost which is now being used by farmers to improve the soil health and increase productivity.
Stating that their objective was to make BMC a zero waste corporation , Ajay Sinha, chief executive officer, Feedback Foundation, said the composting was done through the natural process using bio culture which generates bacteria and other actinomycetes with converts waste to compost adding that wet wast was composted through NADEP composting technique while dry wast and domestic E waste were sent to recyclers.
Under the NADEP method of organic composting, a wide range of organic materials such as crop residues, weeds, forest litter and kitchen waste was used to convert the waste into compost which is used as an alternative of farmyard manure. NADEP stands for Narayan Deorao Pandharipande also known as Nadepkaka, the name of farmer from Maharashtra who invented the technique of making compost.
Reacting to the initiative of BMC of converting domestic waste into compost medical practitioner Dr. Manik Mahjan said “There can’t be anything better than this,the waste which used to litter the streets of Batala spreading reek and numerous diseases ,like gastroenteritis ,dengue,malaria,chikungunya by providing brooding place for mosquitoes and flies, was gradually vanishing from city and it was good that it was used to make organic compost which acts as a fertiliser providing boon to the farmers.
The 50 wards of BMC generates around 20 tons of waste every day including 50% wet waste, 45% dry waste and 5% domestic biomedical and hazardous waste, Singha said adding that initially they had started operations in 15 wards of BMC as sanitation park was under construction to saturate the remaining wards.
The process of converting waste to compost includes collection of segregated waste from the source in partitioned vehicles, secondary and territory segregation at the facility, addition of bio culture, shredding of bigger size wast in 20 mm to 40 mm size for fast degradation, placing the wet wast in the pit, daily addition of carbons at the top layer like leaves, saw dust etc., weekly turning, maintaining moisture, management of leachate and using it as moisture.
Manik further said that this was a win win situation where on one hand the tag of ‘dirtiest city ‘ from Batala would be removed and on the other hand it would help make the city disease free besides providing cheap manure to the famers.“I think this is an excellent initiative which will help our city become a model city” said he.
Deputy commissioner Gurdaspur, Muhammad Ishfaq said earlier there used to be piles of debris at landfills in the city but now with the scientific disposal of solid waste has improved environmental sanitation in the city and around. He said after Batala they would extend the project to all across Gurdaspur.
Simha informed that a total of 1111.78 tons of waste was diverted from landfill sites since initiation of the project in Agust 2021 till end of March 2022 adding that the dry waste was further being segregated in 7 categories like- Plastic, Paper, Glass, Metal, Rubber, Fabric and leather and linked with recyclers through BMC authorised vendors. “We have 2 tons of wast ready for sale , 1 ton has already been sold by BMC for Rs 10 per kg” he said.