The Mayor’s decision to make kitchen pulverisers mandatory in all new homes as a pre-condition for plan approval has drawn the ire of solid waste activists and triggered an online campaign (#KitchenPulveriserBeda).
Water conservation experts and volunteers working in the sector raise multiple arguments against the initiative. For one, Bengaluru cannot afford to adopt such a fresh-water intensive method. They also noted that the city’s sewerage network will not be able to take the additional load, which will ultimately lead to breakdown of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs).
To create awareness on this issue, Bangalore Eco Team (BET), a group of solid waste volunteers and experts, has launched the #KitchenPulveriserBeda campaign, listing out reasons why they are against the mechanism that allows kitchen waste to be fed directly into the sewage system.
“You need 10-20 litres of fresh water a day to pulverise and flush kitchen waste in the sink. We spend ₹62 to transport a kilolitre of water into the city, and yet we cannot meet our water requirements. We cannot afford to waste water like this. Moreover, accounting for the cost of water, the cost of handling wet waste now pegged at ₹7 per kilo will increase by over five times,” said S. Vishwanath, a water conservation expert.
However, it’s not just the crush-and-flush approach that is ill-advised, say campaigners who fear that the system will ruin Bengaluru’s woefully insufficient sewerage network. It will eventually take a toll on our water bodies and may even lead to floods in the city, the petition argues.
“Flushing food slurry down the drains will almost double Biological Oxygen Demand overnight, which the present STP infrastructure cannot cope with. This will only lead to frothing at the STPs, and ultimately, they will break down. If untreated sewage heavily laden with food slurry is let into lakes, it will infuse frothing,” said Ramprasad, an SWM expert.
Another concern is about drains and pipes being clogged. “Most of our foods have fats and oils, which will gradually settle down on the lining of the pipes which will eventually clog them. This will also only increase the cockroach menace in the drains, which poses a real threat of spreading several diseases,” the petition points out.
In-situ composting only solution
Bangalore Eco Team (BET) proposes in-situ composting of wet waste be made mandatory.
“While BBMP was mulling over the idea of make composting on premises mandatory this June, Noida and Mumbai have already made it mandatory. It has been mandatory in Alappuzah, Kerala since 2012,” the petition said.
Experts have been batting for adopting the Alappuzah model where the local civic body gives a 50% subsidy for bio-gas units and 90% subsidy for in-situ composting units.
