The women’s wing of the residents’ association at B Sector in Anna Nagar West Extension is central to a unique model of waste collection and management.
Here’s a blow-by-blow account of how this came about.
1) In 2014/15, the Chennai Corporation sets up a composting yard at a burial ground near Padi.
2) The civic body seeks to collect waste from houses in neighbouring areas and segregate it for the composting yard.
3) It clearly needs extra hands to tackle this Herculean task and begins to look for volunteers.
4) The search leads the State agency to the women’s wing at B Sector.
“With the women’s wing on board, we kick-started a new model in which residents would help us segregate the waste that could be composted,” says a Corporation official.
The members bought garbage bags in green and black, spending from their pockets. These bags were distributed to around 250 households in Anna Nagar West Extension. The green bags are meant for biodegradable waste and the black ones for non-biodegradable waste.
Along with the two bags, the women’s wing distributed a monthly card to each house to record the number of days its residents carried out segregation and also to ascertain the quality of segregation.
Arunthathi Kathiravan, a member of the women’s wing, explains, “Every day, a Corporation supervisor and a conservancy staff visits each of the houses, collects the two bags of waste and checks if the garbage has been segregated as per instructions. If the waste is put in the right bag, the official puts a tick mark on the particular date. If a piece of waste is found in the wrong bag — for example, if a glass piece is found in the bag for biodegradable waste — a cross mark is given. If the garbage is not handed over that day, a dash mark is made on the day’s entry.”
At the end of every month, the designated Corporation official collects all the cards and hands them over to the women’s wing for review.
Residents who segregate waste diligently receive rewards.
“In the first month, 57 out of 250 houses successfully segregated their waste every day.
“As a token of appreciation, we presented these residents with a memento,” says Arunthathi.
Residents with cross markings on the card are urged to follow the plan.
The campaign gained momentum in the following months; but, not for long.
“For a brief spell, the campaign lost focus, and waste segregation was not carried out as actively as before,” she adds.
Recently, Greater Chennai Corporation approached the women’s wing to pick up the pieces and restart the initiative.
“This time though, they asked us to help them collect organic matter including vegetable and fruit waste, egg shells, tea leaves and coffee ground only, as most other wastes made the composting process unduly long,” says Arunthathi.
“Even lemon cannot be added to this waste due to its acidic property. On the other hand, non-biodegradable waste will be collected as usual.”
While buying garbage bags for all houses was financially not feasible for the members as well as the Corporation, the residents are encouraged to use their own bags.
Rajathi Rajendran, president of the women’s wing, bears the entire expense for printing the cards.
Now, subcategorising organic waste means three dustbins — one for kitchen waste; another for food scraps; and one more, for dry waste.
A few residents found it burdensome to have three dustbins in their kitchens. “Convincing the residents to cooperate with us and the officials is one of the greatest challenges we face on a daily basis. We must do this for the next generation,” she advises.
As part of a new strategy, incentives are built into the programme. “This time, we are rewarding the residents with two kilos of manure, which can be used in their respective terrace gardens. They could also gift it to their friends,” says Arunthathi.
