Ullal CMC’s lockdown initiative aims at zero-waste city goal

Mangaluru: A green initiative launched by the Ullal City Municipal Council (CMC) during the lockdown is aiming at making the city a zero-waste zone within the next six months.
The CMC in association with progressive farmers had launched a scheme for the people to cultivate vegetables at home, institutions and business premises in the city. The CMC has already started converting the wet waste generated in the city into organic manure, and the same is being distributed to houses, schools, SHGs and business premises where vegetables are cultivated. The CMC has opened a compost making unit in its premises in Ullal, to process nearly two tonnes of wet waste, and it has plans to set up more units to process all the 15 tonnes of wet waste generated in the city every day. The CMC has created a kitchen garden growing ridged gourd on its premises, using unused refrigerator boxes. While kitchen waste from the city gets converted into compost, tender coconut shells collected from shops are used for the bottom layer of the boxes in the garden.
CMC commissioner Rayappa told TOI that the CMC has already harvested vegetables twice, and distributed it among civic workers and staff. “Our goal is to make Ullal a zero-waste town by stopping the transportation of waste from the city to Mangaluru City Corporation’s dump yard. A drive to make waste segregation mandatory has been carried out in the town, and technical support is being given to families that grow vegetables using kitchen waste manure. They are also encouraged to convert kitchen waste into manure in their premises,” he said.
The CMC has set up five more compost making units in its wards, where unused pre-cast concrete pump houses have been used to convert wet waste into manure. “The CMC also has plans to procure machinery that could increase the capacity to make manure, and income will be generated through dry waste collected from the city,” Rayappa said.
Progressive farmer Vijay Uliya, who is giving guidance to the CMC, said 200 kg of compost can be manufactured using a tonne of wet waste. “In addition to ridged gourd, we also have plans to cultivate various other vegetables in the CMC premises,” he added.
The pandemic did not stop the staff and SDMC members of the Government Upgraded Model Higher Primary School, Suribail, in Kolnad in Bantwal taluk from growing vegetables in the kitchen garden on campus.