TAKSRA, Mandaveli
A binless and clean street
Of the five RWAs, four are gated communities. As a one-street group, TAKSRA is the odd one out. It consists of 80 houses — both independent and part of apartments — on Thiruveedhi Amman Koil Street in Mandaveli.
At a time when the city is working towards ridding itself of garbage bins, TAKSRA’s successful efforts to go binless are valuable lessons. If the wisdom of these efforts can be distilled into one sentence, it is this: “Binlessness” is an natural outcome of minimising waste in the community, and using some of the generated waste wisely.
“Ours is not a gated community but a street with 80 families. When we sought to go zero-waste as a community, we initiated conversations with the all the 80 families. We taught our children about the different kinds of waste and how to recycle them. More importantly, we monitored our progress and ensured we were all on the same page. When the 80 households were favourable to the idea of segregating waste at source and handing over only recyclable waste to conservancy workers, we didn’t see the need for having garbage bins in the street and went bin-free. Our street has been free of trash for nearly two years now,” says K.L. Bala of TAKSRA.
All organic and food waste is composted on the premises of apartments and houses, and the manure is used for the plants and trees found along the sides of the road.
“TAKSRA has employed a gardener just for this purpose. He collects the manure from each house and uses it for the plants and trees on the street.
Last year, TAKSRA tied up with Kabadiwalla Connect, a city-based start-up that developed a smart bin called ‘Urbin’. Through a mobile application called ‘Recykle,’ Kabadiwalla Connect prevents recyclable waste from reaching landfills. Instead, they are recycled or upcycled. The app also connects the local scrap dealers with the residents who want to dispose of solid waste. The bins are fitted with built-in field sensors and sends a text message to the neighbourhood kabadiwalla once it is full.
“As a community, we are open to experimenting with technology and other innovative methods to minimise waste and reduce consumption of water and energy,” Bala adds.
When the city started experiencing water scarcity, the Association adopted the drip irrigation method for gardening. “We want to save water but we also can’t ignore our plants. So all of us brainstormed and decided to adopt the drip irrigation method,” he says.
Their success in adopting and practising various sustainable models have prompted other RWAs to follow their example. TAKSRA is now helping a few RWAs in the Mylapore region to replicate their model.
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Ramaniyam Eden, Velachery
A ‘creative’ start to source segregation
The waste segregation initiative at Ramaniyam Eden Flat Owners Association began with a drama. Wait, it’s not what you think.
The waste segregation and plastic reduction initiative was started by women residents — Sripriya Seshadri, Srividya and S. Pragathi — with support from the Ramaniyam Eden Flat Owners Association headed by K. Chandrasekar, through a street play the women performed at their Eden Day annual celebrations in January 2018.
Soon, door-to-door campaigns and awareness sessions followed and in less than a month later, the community of 160 households started segregating its waste.
After five months of trial and error, they harvested about 25 kg of manure from their composting unit.
Chennai, Tamilnadu, 04/07/2018: Bio compost manure is being dried up at green eden apartments in Velachery. Photo: G. Krishnaswamy
The apartment complex has 15 bins and each bin holds about three days of wet waste. It takes about 45 days to compost and generates about 20-25 kg per bin, she adds.
When it comes to energy conservation efforts, the association switched to LED lights in the common areas and restricted the generator to common areas to prevent unnecessary diesel usage.
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Sabari Terrace, Sholinganallur
‘Self-sufficiency was our only choice’
Members Sabari Terrace Apartment Owners Association would say that all their sterling initiatives were born out of necessity and desperation.
“The OMR region, which is the IT hub of Chennai, does not have piped water supply or underground drainage connections. Self-sufficiency was our only choice,” says Harsha Koda, a key member of the Association.
Last year, during the north-east monsoon, the residents harvested 10 lakh litres of rainwater. Though the Association had a strong system to recharge the groundwater table through the recharge pits in the apartment complex, they realised the run-offs from the terrace was getting wasted.
“Residents living in high-rises hardly use the roof-top space. So why not turn it into a useful space and divert the rainwater to the underground sumps? However, it wasn’t as easy to get the job done. There was cost and convincing involved. We had to explain the action plan, the cost and benefits of having a roof-top rainwater harvesting system. Once all the residents gave the green signal, we started with one block. When it was successful, we linked the drains on the terrace to the sumps,” he adds.
The Association spent ₹2.5 lakh on setting up the RWH system.
For over eight years now, the community has been practising source segregation and vermi-composting. “We started off with setting up composting pits made of well-rings on the premises where all the garden waste was composted. Later, we adopted vermicomposting where vegetable waste, dry leaves and flowers are being converted into manure. It was just the initial hiccup of convincing the other families of how simple the processes of segregation and composting were,” says Harsha’s wife Prabha Koda.
Sabari Terrace’s green belt development initiatives included planting of fruit trees and growing terrace gardens and vertical gardens. “The OMR belt is a thriving ecosystem for flora and fauna. However, rapid urbanisation threatened most of their habitats. So, we planted fruit-yielding trees within the premises and over the years, we have spotted and recorded about 42 species of birds in this region,” adds Prabha.
The recycled water from the sewage treatment plant is used for flushing the toilets and gardening purposes.
“For us, it is an ongoing process towards a sustainable future. We have inspired many communities and we hope to make a bigger impact with our sustained efforts,” says Harsha.
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The Central Park South, Sholinganallur
A ‘heavyweight’ in waste management
Like the other RWAs, The Central Park South too took exemplary efforts in solid waste management and rainwater harvesting.
“We were one of the gated communities severely affected by the December 2015 floods with more than 5 feet of water entering the premises. We realised the clogging of drain networks was one of the reasons why the apartment was flooded. So we set to work immediately and implemented a three-segregation system — the two bin, one bag model — to collect bio-degradable waste, reject waste and recyclable waste,” says Sumitha Iyer, a resident-volunteer.
The residents of this community with 172 apartments have prevented nearly 75 tonnes of waste from going to the landfill. The organic waste is composted and turned into manure and the recyclable waste is sorted and sold to local scrap dealers and the proceeds shared by housekeeping staff. The reject waste, which has been brought down to just 30% a day, is collected by the Corporation’s conservancy workers to be taken to the landfill. These residents maintain a digital log, weighing the various categories of garbage collected every day.
Likewise, the apartment complex’s sewage waste treatment plant, which is designed to treat up to 135 KLD of sewage, was upgraded to monitor real-time, the parameters such as BOD, COD, turbidity, pH value, input and output flowrate. The readings are constantly monitored by residents. The treated sewage is used for flushing the toilets, gardening and cleaning of common areas.
Much before the plastic ban came into force, the residents of The Central Park South cut down on its use by eliminating the use of plastic liners in trash bins and prohibiting the use of plastic bags and cutlery inside the premises.
“We only use stainless steel cutlery during events and only cloth bags are used for shopping,” adds Sumitha.
Consumption of water too is monitored real-time. The input and output of water from various resources such as tankers, bore wells, open wells, etc are monitored and their capacity clearly documented. Open wells have supplemented borewells in the apartment complex. There are 30 rainwater collection pits in the apartment complex and they have been deepened to 18 feet from 4 feet.
Energy is saved due to usage of LED bulbs and tube lights in common areas and the light timings are controlled.
“Our association strictly follows the reduce, reuse and recycle policy. In the library and games room, all the books and games, puzzles and other play equipment were contributed by residents. We upcycled old car wheels into seats for the kids and old beddings into cushions and curtains into covers. The furniture is recycled. We ensure that anything that can be recycled and reused is not sent to the landfills,” says Sumitha.
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Ceebros Boulevard, Thoraipakkam
Do-it-yourself model pays off
Ceebros Boulevard, a gated community in OMR with 3522 apartments and a population of more than 900, has implemented a unique ‘Do It Yourself’ model to minimise the quantum of garbage going to the landfill.
In 2015, the residents, under the aegis of Ceebros Boulevard Flat Owners Association, kicked off the ‘vision zero waste to landfill’ and switched from the ‘door-to-door’ model to the ‘do-it-yourself’ model in a phased out manner. As part of this system of garbage disposal, a green space has been created in the basement of the apartment where three bins of different colours – green, grey and blue – have been placed. Organic and wet waste must be dropped off in the green bin, sanitary and non-recyclable waste in the grey bin and dry waste and recyclables in the blue bin. “This method inculcates a sense of responsibility when it comes to waste management. It has also helped children learn about the importance of garbage segregation and a healthy environment,” says Hariharan P., a resident.
The community generates about 300 kg of green waste in a day, which is being sent to the Corporation compost yard in Kannagi Nagar.
The sewage treatment plant at Ceebros Boulevard recycles nearly 1 lakh litres of water every day, which is used for flushing and gardening purposes.
As for green development, the RWA has planted trees and flowering plants in the open space reservation (OSR) land in front of the apartment complex.
With the ultimate goal of the community being “reduce, reuse and recycle”, the residents went all out to prevent disposable plastics from entering the premises. Residents take their own cloth bags for shopping and flower sellers and other vendors who visit the premises have been asked to leave the supplies in bags placed by residents.
This method inculcates a sense of responsibility when it comes to waste management. It has also helped children learn about the importance of garbage segregation and a healthy environment.
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About the Green Award
In 2018, TNPCB instituted the Green Award for resident welfare associations with an aim to encourage residents to participate in environment-friendly initiatives. The Green Award is presented to five RWAs within the Greater Chennai Corporation limits, every year. Associations that have excelled in the following categories can apply for the awards:
1. Solid waste management 2. Management of sewage 3. Green belt development 4. Plastic waste management 5. Use of alternatives to plastics 6. Reuse of treated sewage 7. Water management 8. Bio-composting 9. Rainwater harvesting 10. Solar panel usage 11. Energy saving and 12. Reuse, recycle and reduce practices
SOURCE: TNPCB
