A tried and tested routine acquired a twist recently, and it might just be a very good thing. In public parks, withered plants, fallen leaves, and shrub and tree pruning get final disposal by being stuffed into pits and then sealed. After some months, when flower beds are being readied for fresh planting, the contents are dug out and used as compost. A shredder was installed in Shanti Niketan in July, and a wider sweep of horticulture waste, such as branches and sturdy palm frond rejects, consciously began to be collected and stored in the parks. Then, pushed through the chute of a throbbing diminutive machine, it got funneled out into a soft greenish-brown heap. In a few weeks, with some help from soil-based microorganisms, it shrank into a semisolid mass. Subsequently, Shanti Niketan Residents Association [SNRA] malis sieved it, and a feathery brown pile with an earthy fragrance was the result. But how good is this stuff? Thirteen 12 kg bags that our produce got packed into were sold out within minutes to Shanti Niketan residents. The Parks and Garden Committee of SNRA await their feedback, with fingers crossed. Private malis may just condemn it as bekar, thereby implanting a fully grown prejudice in the mind of their employers, which no amount of research-based and anecdotal data can dislodge. There is no doubt our khad is a nitrogen-rich product deficient in potassium and phosphorus and cannot be exclusively relied upon for nutrition for growing flowers and vegetables. But then an alternate evaluation, badhiya, is also possible. In which case a regular production cycle can be created, ensuring a more vigorous green waste collection, cleaner parks and private gardens, less shabby local dhalaos, a less burdened distant landfill, some pocket money for our hardworking malis, and a shrinking carbon footprint by our colony as a whole. Let us see what will be.
