Cubbon Park turns leaf litter into compost

BENGALURU: The prime lung space of Bengaluru has some lessons for the rest of the city when it comes to turning waste into compost. Dry leaves falling off trees in the 198-acre Cubbon Park are being converted into three tonnes of compost every year, which is used as manure for fresh saplings planted there as well as in other large parks.

Mahantesh Murgod, deputy director (Cubbon Park), horticulture department, explained: “Cubbon Park generates several tonnes of dry leaves every year. We have installed about 10 leaf composters at strategic locations. We store fallen leaves for about seven months to facilitate the composting process. Also, there are some pits in the park where leaves are left to decompose with mud and other elements.”

Murgod said excess leaf waste is being sent to the biotechnology centre of the horticulture department in Hulimavu. “The centre also makes leaf compost and sells it to farmers and other customers,” he added.

A senior official said leaf compost from Cubbon Park is used to raise saplings in other gardens maintained by the department, including at Vidhana Soudha, Raj Bhavan, Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park and gardens of government bungalows allotted to ministers.

Experts said the BBMP, which is struggling to manage leaf litter, should take some lessons from the horticulture department. “In the absence of a good mechanism to deal with leaf composting, pourakarmikas and residents resort to burning dry leaves and add to the city’s pollution woes,” said Dharanesh K, an urban researcher.