BMC treats waste from slums, turns it into manure for farms

The BMC with the help of an organisation Com-post, has started treating 30 tonne of waste generated in the slums of M-East ward (Govandi, Deonar) and converting it into manure that is being used in farms in Kolhapur. 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has roped in not just bulk waste generators, like housing societies and restaurants but also slums in Mumbai for segregating and composting waste. The BMC with the help of an organisation Com-post, has started treating 30 tonne of waste generated in the slums of M-East ward (Govandi, Deonar) and converting it into manure that is being used in farms in Kolhapur.

The BMC has set up a composting unit with a capacity of treating 50 tonne of waste at a plot adjacent to the Eastern Freeway. But currently the civic body, with help of Com-post has been treating 30 tonne waste generated by slums in Bainganwadi and Shivaji Nagar area to get organic manure up to 22 tonne in 48 hours. The entire M-East ward comprises slum pockets with a population of 8,26,784. “The manure produced by treating wet waste from the slums in our ward goes to Kolhapur and is used in farms there. The initiative is successful in the area and we would like to improve it further. Currently, we are treating only 30 tonne of wet waste. But in the next 15 days, we will start treating 50 tonne,” said Shriniwas Kilje, the Assistant Municipal Commissioner.

Kilje added that the unit produces at least 75 per cent manure from the total waste. According to Kilje they have proposed to increase the capacity of the unit from 50 tonne to 100 tonne. Currently, slums in M-East ward generate up to 390 tonne of waste daily.

Based on its order to not pick up waste not segregated from October 2 and several extensions of the deadline thereafter, the BMC had decided to start segregation and composting of wet waste in different slum clusters across the city. Close to 60 per cent of the city’s population is estimated to be living in slums.

“In case of slums, the BMC has undertaken localised segregation and composting with help of NGOs and other organisations. This will save transportation cost for waste and reduce burdening the already-saturated dumping grounds,” said a senior official from solid waste management department. The BMC officials claim that the project has helped reduce waste transportation cost substantially after it reduced the load of 30 tonne of wet waste that is being treated. Of the three dumping grounds in the city, waste is scientifically processed only at Kanjurmarg.