Processing .....please wait.. 
The article has been forwarded.... 
News >> >>
Vellore showcases 'garbage to gold' development model
Monday, 24 November 2003, 20:30 IST |
1 Comments
VELLORE: Garbage is their business. But they don't want to pile it up. Nor do they want to cart it away to a dump.
This Tamil Nadu district believes that garbage needs to be treated as soon as it is generated, and turned into 'gold' -- an organic, chemical-free manure sold at as high a price 
10 per kg.
Incidentally, Vellore has been declared the cleanest district in the country by the total sanitation programme of the Indian government.
Mohandoss, the district's chief administrator and collector, said Vellore was once a place where, people said, there was no water and no trees.
"Now, it is a changed landscape," he said.
Mohandoss told IANS, "This is only the beginning. At present, we have 10 villages, two town panchayats and five municipality wards covered by the total sanitation and integrated projects programmes. In a year, we hope to extend this to the whole district."
The district, about 150 km west of Chennai, achieved the aim of "total sanitation" with help from the state government, supported by NGOS like the Exnora International and its green arm here, the Exnora Green Cross, an engineering college in the district and temple authorities.
It also received funding and support from the central government's national afforestation and total sanitation programmes.
The visiting media here was also shown the "Vellore model of development", which according to additional principal information officer T.G. Nallamuthu is "a composite model with the possibility of being implemented throughout the country, in villages and towns, institutions and hospitals".
On show were waste management, composting and integrated development projects in a deemed university, the Vellore Institute of Technology, a temple, the Narayani Peedam zero waste scheme in Malaikodi, the Gandhinagar town panchayat and Vellore municipality's public funded projects.
The six projects involve at least 12,000 people and waste generated in the living and working environments of various communities, including farmers and shopkeepers, from the very poor to the affluent.
The waste comes from kitchens, toilets, cattle, temples, hotels, shops and includes degradable and non-degradable plastics, metal and tyres, at least 70 tons of solid and liquid refuse which have to be taken care of every single day for this strong a population.
The Vellore Institute of Technology houses a nearly 7,000-strong student and teacher population. Led by Exnora, it has been engaged in bio-conversion of degradable waste in a shed on the campus.
Interestingly, the 'bio-degrading engine' used by the institute is in the form of 27 cattleheads in its decomposting shed, which constantly munch away at the vegetable waste and convert them into cow dung in just 24 hours, when any other method would have taken weeks.
From the dung comes biogas used to light up hostels. The institute also uses solar energy and is ready to teach everyone clean technology.
The Narayani Peedam is an example of a 21st century temple to the mother goddess 'Narayani', headed by a young 27-year-old known as 'Sakthi Amma'.
With hundreds of devotees in India, Singapore, U.S., Canada, Britain and France, this young seer, in collaboration with the NGO, is piloting projects where elephant dung, cow dung, flowers, temple waste and banana leaves are all turned into organic manure within the precincts of the temple.
This manure is then used to plant hundreds of thousands of trees on the surrounding hills.
Meanwhile, in the village of Palavanchathu, 3,600 families have got together to collect, sort out and generate manure from garbage, providing employment to hundreds.
The Vellore fish market also has a project to compost fish waste. The women of Selamantham village make excellent tea from the biogas that fuels their homes.
Source: IANS
10 per kg.
Incidentally, Vellore has been declared the cleanest district in the country by the total sanitation programme of the Indian government.
Mohandoss, the district's chief administrator and collector, said Vellore was once a place where, people said, there was no water and no trees.
"Now, it is a changed landscape," he said.
Mohandoss told IANS, "This is only the beginning. At present, we have 10 villages, two town panchayats and five municipality wards covered by the total sanitation and integrated projects programmes. In a year, we hope to extend this to the whole district."
The district, about 150 km west of Chennai, achieved the aim of "total sanitation" with help from the state government, supported by NGOS like the Exnora International and its green arm here, the Exnora Green Cross, an engineering college in the district and temple authorities.
It also received funding and support from the central government's national afforestation and total sanitation programmes.
The visiting media here was also shown the "Vellore model of development", which according to additional principal information officer T.G. Nallamuthu is "a composite model with the possibility of being implemented throughout the country, in villages and towns, institutions and hospitals".
On show were waste management, composting and integrated development projects in a deemed university, the Vellore Institute of Technology, a temple, the Narayani Peedam zero waste scheme in Malaikodi, the Gandhinagar town panchayat and Vellore municipality's public funded projects.
The six projects involve at least 12,000 people and waste generated in the living and working environments of various communities, including farmers and shopkeepers, from the very poor to the affluent.
The waste comes from kitchens, toilets, cattle, temples, hotels, shops and includes degradable and non-degradable plastics, metal and tyres, at least 70 tons of solid and liquid refuse which have to be taken care of every single day for this strong a population.
The Vellore Institute of Technology houses a nearly 7,000-strong student and teacher population. Led by Exnora, it has been engaged in bio-conversion of degradable waste in a shed on the campus.
Interestingly, the 'bio-degrading engine' used by the institute is in the form of 27 cattleheads in its decomposting shed, which constantly munch away at the vegetable waste and convert them into cow dung in just 24 hours, when any other method would have taken weeks.
From the dung comes biogas used to light up hostels. The institute also uses solar energy and is ready to teach everyone clean technology.
The Narayani Peedam is an example of a 21st century temple to the mother goddess 'Narayani', headed by a young 27-year-old known as 'Sakthi Amma'.
With hundreds of devotees in India, Singapore, U.S., Canada, Britain and France, this young seer, in collaboration with the NGO, is piloting projects where elephant dung, cow dung, flowers, temple waste and banana leaves are all turned into organic manure within the precincts of the temple.
This manure is then used to plant hundreds of thousands of trees on the surrounding hills.
Meanwhile, in the village of Palavanchathu, 3,600 families have got together to collect, sort out and generate manure from garbage, providing employment to hundreds.
The Vellore fish market also has a project to compost fish waste. The women of Selamantham village make excellent tea from the biogas that fuels their homes.
Source: IANS