The RWA of Shanti Niketan now has a diminutive almost five feet long and five- feet high bio-shredder. The hope is that with its regular use not only will the colony’s 11 parks look neater but also much less horticulture waste will be sent to the landfills in the vicinity. Since this waste is generated in vast quantities in Delhi and is difficult to extract value from, dumping it into the landfill is the option that the MCD most frequently uses. The disastrous consequences of this practice find frequent mention in the media. Festering green waste leads to the generation of Methane, a potent greenhouse gas. According to the National Geographic magazine, its potential for warming the earth in comparison with carbon dioxide over a 20 year time-scale is 80 times more. In the landfills biodegradable waste and debris when clubbed together cause fiery explosions leading to landslides and accidents and wholly avoidable loss of life and material effects.
The Falcon FBS 520 machine which two of our colony maalis have become quite adept at operating can within minutes reduce a rickshaw load of thin branches, leaf litter and grass trimmings to a soft heap. Plans have been made to infuse separate heaps with vermicompost solution, a molasses and yoghurt mix, handfuls of microbe and fungi laden soil so that in due course, varieties of leaf manure can be generated and we have an in-house source of plant nutrition.
All this has become possible because the Niraamay Environment Trust, a Public Charitable Trust registered in 2022, and created specifically to endow RWAs with funds for specific projects that could improve air, water, soil quality in their designated areas, wanted to gift a shredder to SNRA. The only condition was that the RWA should be willing to maintain it and ensure its safety. Fortunately for the colony, the SNRA leadership, its office-bearers, embraced the offer, as it were. They expedited the vacation of a platform by a mobile tower company in Trident Park, for placing the shredder. They built a shed for the 5.5 HP machine and applied and secured a temporary electricity connection from the BSES.
In the inaugural function held this month to which all residents were invited, the President of SNRA, Arun Chopra was singled out for felicitation for his zeal in making the machine operational at the earliest. Devika Singh was also presented with a bouquet. A co-founder of Mobile Creche in the early sixties and an active member of its management until recently, she was and continues to be a guide and mentor to founder trustees of the Niraamay Environment Trust.
