Kathmandu, June 3: Production of compost manure started at Jorpati Tole from Wednesday with a processing chamber set up at the joint initiative of Jorpati VDC and the Radhakrishna Tole Development Committee.
The VDC provided some four anna of land and construction material such as bricks and cement for the construction of the chamber. People’s participation was mobilised by the committee through awareness generation about systematic collection of rubbish and its disposal.
The compost production begins after accumulation of refuse at the chamber from 200 local families.
The chamber completed at a cost of about Rs 80,000 comprises three rooms of different sizes.
Aerobic and non-aerobic systems have been set up at the chamber for decomposition of the refuse.
The refuse is first dumped in the first room of the chamber which is designed as a web formed by pipes. This room is elevated to let in adequate air for decomposition after spraying chemicals on the refuge. More refuse is added regularly from the top at short intervals.
After filling the first room for the first time within a month, the refuse is transferred to another room with the use of forks.
The refuse will be kept in this room in non-aerobic conditions for a couple of days and then transferred to a third room in which the refuse transforms completely into compost.
Covers are used in the rooms to prevent the emanation of foulodour from the refuse.
A staff of two has been deployed by the committee to collect the refuse from the locality and make compost.
We are going to hire two more people for a public awareness campaign on sanitation, secretary of the committee Shivahari Pokharel says.
The committee has distributed an iron prod and two plastic buckets with lids to each family in the locality at a certain charge.
Plastic pouches of milk, tea and noodles are impailed on the prod. Similarly, one bucket is to be used for accumulating organic refuse such as waste food, and the other for non-organic material such and broken glass and metals. We advised local residents to gather the ash and cinders after burning refuse such as paper and hay in their own back yards. This will reduce the refuge bulk and make it easier to collect it, Pokharel says.
The committee has also decided to fine any one who throws refuse at places other than the designated ones or on the road Rs. 100.
The fines will definitely help discourage the haphazard disposal of domestic garbage and maintain sanitation on public roads, he adds.
The chamber was set up for systematic disposal of refuse at ward level at minimum cost through the people’s involvement after observing the management of solid waste at different places, ward chairman Ram Chandra Acharya said.
If this project turns out to be successful, we will expand it to the rest of the wards in the VDC in partnership with the local people, he adds.
He further says the VDC has come up with this scheme as an alternative since the life of the Gokarna Dumping Site seems very short and the proposed Syuchatar Landfill Site is too far.
Jorpati VDC chairman Gopal Baral claims that the project will be sucessful and hopes Kathmandu Municipal Corporation and the Solid Waste Management and Resource Mobilisation Centre will extend cooperation.
Currently, an arrangement has been made to transport refuse from households and factories to the chamber by rikshaw with the use of four baskets at a time, one each for bio-degradable material, non-degradable material like iron and broken glass, plastic refuse and the waste product from carpet factories.
The committee has also categorised local houses into four groups on the basis of number of storeis. It charges Rs. 25 for a one storey building, Rs. 50 for a two storey building, Rs. 75 for three storeys and Rs. 100 for four storeys. It also charges carpet factories from Rs. 100 to Rs. 500 depending on their production capacity.
Part of the money generated through the sale of compost manure or other reusable material is to be deposited in the committee fund and also used for hiring extra manpower for the project.