From producing their own power to treating their own sewage, properties belonging to the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) are on their way to becoming more environment friendly.
The tourism corporation has undertaken initiatives to make its properties, which are situated in some of the most popular tourism destinations in Karnataka, as well as in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, environmentally sustainable. There are 18 Mayura hotels in all, including in Mysuru, Belur, Kamalapura, and Jog Falls.
Kumar Pushkar, managing director, KSTDC, said the corporation had hired a consultant on a pilot basis to implement good practices in solid waste management. These practices have been in use from three months in the KSTDC hotels at Madikeri and Srirangapatna.
“We want to ensure that we are not polluting the environment we are in. Since we started this, we have seen a lot of improvement in collection, segregation, and disposal of waste,” he said.
Under the new solid waste management programme, waste will be segregated into dry and wet. While dry waste will be sent to collection centres or the local municipality or agencies, wet waste will be composted at the property, officials explained.
The KSTDC has also embarked on a project to install sewage treatment plants (STPs) at its properties, for which tenders would be called soon, Mr. Pushkar said.
While the Srirangapatna property already has an STP, treated water from the new STPs to be installed would be reused for gardening and in flush tanks, officials said.
Renewable energy
The State-owned properties are also set to become more energy efficient with the installation of hybrid solar-wind plants, which will ensure that power is generated even at night. “We are expecting our energy consumption to come down by 60% after this. Air-conditioning and hot water account for the other major consumption. For the latter, we are implementing a new technology called a ‘heat pump’, through which we will be able to provide hot water for 24 hours by consuming only 10% of the power when compared with traditional water heaters,” Mr. Pushkar said.
Overall, the KSTDC hopes to achieve 90% efficiency in energy consumption and reduce carbon footprint in six to nine months.
“We want to become a model for the tourism industry. Tourism should be conscious of the environment. Whatever we are investing now, we will be able to earn back in a few years,” he added.
