In any activity, a chasm can develop between precept and practice any time. When this happens, it is time to go back to the basics.
Encountering a similar situation in waste management among its residents, ROKA (Residents of Kasturba Nagar Association) is putting them through a primer once again. However, this time around, the lessons are offered in a real-time learning environment.
Kasturba Nagar has eight main roads and three cross streets. S. Sridharan, president, ROKA points out that the issue is being tackled in manageable bite-sized portions. “For now, the focus is on three main roads — First, Second and Third Main Road — and the cross streets,” he elaborates.
So, every morning, a handful of ROKA volunteers footslog through these stretches, matching steps with conservancy workers.
It only means that residents have to brace themselves for a waste-segregation performance appraisal. If the single point of contact is not in attendance, any need for corrective measures is reportedly conveyed via a WhatsApp group.
The Association started this “back-to-the-basics” exercise three weeks ago, in part because around that time, the locality received the much-awaited composting well rings.
“Around a month ago, Greater Chennai Corporation established three composting well rings in the locality on a space it identified for the purpose, and so it made sense to restart the monitoring exercise. The last time we had such an exercise was around June 2018, when ROKA was a newly-formed association,” says Janani Venkitesh, secretary, ROKA.
There are two other motivating factors: Reportedly, a few months ago, Valmiki Nagar residents undertook monitoring exercise, which has apparently taken them a few impressive notches up the waste-management performance scale.
The other reason is that ROKA wants Katurba Nagar to be rid of the dumpsters on the streets which would necessitate utmost compliance with solid-waste management rules.
On a waste monitoring trail in Kasturba Nagar.
So, what is the progress so far?
S. Sridharan, president, ROKA, says, “Based on the situation in the roads covered so far, the overall compliance is around 50 percent. Greater Chennai Corporation officials have said they will remove the dumpsters from the roads if they see 90 percent compliance”
That sounds like a lot of uncovered ground still.
So, to get a ringside view, on a rainy Thursday, this writer joins Sridharan and Janani at Second Main Road, as they follow the tricycle piloted by K. Kumar and P. Lakshmi, conservancy workers employed by Ramky Enviro, a private waste-management agency that is currently on an extended term.
The resident-volunteers explain that on Wednesdays and Sundays, only non-biodegradable waste and sanitary waste, represented by blue and red bins respectively, are collected. On all the other days, the green bin with its biodegradable waste is in focus.
At huge gated communities — which would come under the bulk-generators category — internal monitoring of this kind is commonplace. In the neighbourhood context, it is not only rare, but also throws up more challenges than can be easily met.
In the normal course, there is bound to be varying gaps in communication and knowledge. On Second Main Road, this writer comes upon a small-apartment complex where residents are yet to get off the mark, in terms of three-bins segregation. In fact, the bins are still waiting to be purchased. To the Association’s credit, when the ROKA volunteers explain what is at stake, there is openness, and even a soupcon of remorse.
In another multiple-dwelling unit, there are those green, blue and red bins, but they have to be first shaken out of a slumber to be of any earthly good. They have been neatly placed in a corner, upside-down.
Even marginal improvements in waste segregation are lauded by the resident-volunteers by way of encouragement. There are times when gentle exhortation hops right alongside encouragement.
At one point, the resident-volunteers remind the conservancy workers that waste that is not properly segregated should be refused; and the conservancy workers should not segregate it, and thereby deny the residents a learning opportunity.
“We have four meetings scheduled for this Sunday, where we get in touch with residents of four apartment complexes for a session on waste management,” says Sridharan.
At one point, the quartet is joined by Vidhya Padmanabhan, GCC animator for Ward 175, with a few educative pamphlets in hand.
“The Corporation has been very supportive; our executive engineer Varadarajan; assistant engineer Ravichandran; and conservancy inspector Thyagarajan have been very helpful from the beginning,” says Janani.
When asked whether this system of resident-volunteers hopping from house to house and peering into the contents of the coloured bins is a sustainable solution, Sridharan agrees it is not.
“We will do it for a few more weeks, and once we have set the momentum, we will employ someone to do the monitoring. That is what the Valmiki Nagar residents did, and we are inspired by their example,” says Sridharan.
From time to time, both Sridharan and Janani consult a sheet relevant to Second Main Road. It lists the houses. In the case of a residential complex, along with the number of units. Observations are scribbled down. That is the appraisal
“We maintain a soft copy of the details,” says Janani.
Such data can be valuable; the possibilities are immense. An Association can create a heatmap of waste-management for every street, and track compliance. It is difficult to argue with data that is presented in a striking fashion.
Given this, such monitoring exercises should be more regular and data-driven, and integrated into the overall philosophy of neighbourhood management.
