The Corporation Park at Krishnapuri has taken its first step towards becoming a zero-waste facility, thanks to the sustained campaign by a resident. The civic body has started composting dry leaves and other green waste in the park.
Lakshman Rao, a senior citizen, says he has been segregating and composting wet waste at home for more than a decade. A daily visitor to park, which is just across the road, it occurred to him that the green waste generated in the park could easily be composted and turned into manure.
“I noticed that the Corporation workers were simply clearing the heaps of dry leaves that fall from the trees in the park and dumping it in a dustbin which is again transported in a vehicle along with other waste. If I could make enough organic manure to use for the plants and trees at my home, then why not the Corporation? That’s when I started campaigning for it,” he says.
Last year, Lakshman Rao wrote to Mylapore MLA R. Nataraj urging him to direct the Corporation officials to build a composting pit in the park.
It may be noted that he had sent several letters to The Hindu Downtown, to draw the attention of the authorities to his request.
This February, he wrote to the MLA again, following which he initiated the project. Lakshman Rao himself suggested the spots where composting pits could be built. “I suggested that the four corners of the park will be ideal for the composting pits and will not pose any hindrance to the visitors,” he adds.
A few weeks ago, Corporation officials inspected the park and initiated the process.
A Zone 13 official said that old plastic water tanks have been used to build the composting pits after puncturing holes in them for aeration. “The tanks otherwise would end up in the landfill, so we decided to put them to good use. The green waste will be composted and the manure will be used for the plants in the park,” he added.
The civic body is also planning to build compost pits in other Corporation-maintained parks after consulting higher officials.