he Kozhikode Municipal Corporation turned out to be the latest local body in the district to seek out the help of Niravu Residents Association in Vengeri for disposal of non-biodegradable waste. The Corporation entered into a contract with Niravu recently as part of the Clean Kozhikode Project. The Corporation will pay Niravu Rs.30 lakhs to dispose all non-biodegradable wastes in the city and to set up a viable waste disposal programme in the long run.
As a first step, Niravu will collect wastes dumped at various parts of the city, process them and send it over to various plastic recycling units in Karnataka. The garbage dumped at Kakkuzhippalam, leading to public protest recently, was the first to be disposed of in this manner.
With this, the Niravu model of waste management, which was successfully implemented in not just the resident association and the neighbouring residents associations, but Calicut International Airport, Government Mental Health Centre, Kuthiravattom, Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Nadakkavu and around 10 grama panchayats in the district, will now be implemented in Kozhikode Corporation as well.
Niravu works on the assumption that nothing is waste, but a resource in one way or the other. It promotes segregation of waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable at the source level (at households). The biodegradable waste has to be processed at the source by adopting home composting methods. The non-biodegradable wastes can be cleaned and stored in houses separately. It will be collected at regular intervals to be carted away to recycling units. The manure produced in home composts will be used for small-scale organic farming. Thus nothing will be wasted. If properly implemented with full public participation, one needs to devote just two or three minutes for waste management per day. In Kozhikode city, residents will be informed by the ward councillors about the time when the garbage will be collected. It has to be collected at a designated place in every ward from where Niravu will collect it. Special care should be taken to avoid mixing biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
Niravu, which started functioning in 2006 with the aim of getting rid of plastic wastes, later stepped into allied sectors like organic farming. It was appreciated for its efforts by the Suchitwa Mission.
