A JEWEL IN PARLE

On 27th November, we all members of 'Parle Gardners' Group' had the opportunity to discover a jewel in Vile Parle East.

Mrs Varsha Karambelkar kindly arranged for us to be guided by Dr Lattu the eminent horticullturist. He suggested we meet in 'Sathaye College Garden'. All these years I had associated Sathaye college with scholars, art and culture events and rumbunctious crowd of teenagers, so I kept wondering if the meeting was for a cup of tea and then we would proceed to some place like the University for the actual tour.

We assembled and were introduced to the Sprightly Dr Sharangdhar and I had tough time believing she is several years post- retirement seeing her energy and enthusiasm. After the expected canteen visit....the unexpected part happened right here---just behind the canteen began an amazing collection of botanical specimens. Mrs Renee Vyas, an ardent tree- lover and guiding light to many friends of trees accompanied us. The next 2 hours were spent in seeing a large variety of trees, bushes and herbs. Many of them, I saw for the first time. Time flew by....the collection is really quite incredible.

Any person wishing to know more about trees is welcome here. One has to just take permission (by quite simple process) in office and you are ready for your ramble. A field guide such as 'Trees of Bombay" by BNHS will be an excellent companion- as all may not be lucky like us to get guides like Lattu Sir and Sharangdhar Madam. Even after 3 hours, we had not completed seeing all specimens, which means another visit has to be planned.

A number of rare plants have been nurtured here. Many persons brought up in Konkan, can come and see the common trees of their childhood here- as nowadays trees and shrubs are being removed from native places.

Suppose anyone has a rare plant to donate, this collection will gladly accept and it will be nurtured like a cherished child. Now the institute is planning to have some specialised gardens like butterfly garden. I wish they have a garden with fruit trees as well- so that children can at least see where their favorite fruit comes from.

Parlekars have a jewel in their midst now. All must visit and enjoy its beauty.

REASONABLE SEGREGATION

In one previous post, I had written about segregation into several categories. Firstly, because segregation becomes a habit and one becomes passionate about segregation- so one feels like doing more and more categories of segregation. Examples are cited of some countries where dry waste is to be compulsorily segregated into at least 9 categories. By such extensive segregation, it is hoped that every bit of scrap goes for recycling. However, in all this well- intentioned process, here we come across some problems.

Most important is- even if we segregate, there is no guarantee that the items will not be mixed again during transportation. This is the commonest problem faced by Parlekars. I have met many Parlekars who separate out the wet-dry only to see them being mixed down the corridor by their waste- collector- no wonder they give up on it. Here, segregation fails at the first step itself.

Suppose this step is negotiated- the next challenge is storage of different kinds of dry waste. The average house in Parle is quite moderate sized. Balcony, verandah, utility-space are practically unavailable. In fact most parlekars are habituated to storing even less- frequently worn clothes on lofts or under the divan. Still, maybe, one can find one sq foot place to keep one sack of dry waste, but where will we keep several? An elegant solution is suggested by use of partitioned sack/ bags, or by hanging these bags on hooks. I have tried these methods and it does take extra time to open the bags and deposit the wastes. And sometimes the doors don’t stay in place because the bags bulge with bulky objects.

Still if this step is also crossed- next comes the problem of disposal. The bmc collection van collects in one category ‘dry waste’. Suppose the SPA van comes to your place- then the weighing and storage of different categories is so lengthy and then calculation still further takes time- and one wonders whether it has any meaning at all. Especially because the totally carbon footprint increases as the van needs to make many trips to get the same amount of waste collected. Plus this is really of no use as further segregation has to be done at the recycling centre- because for any sensible recycling- dry waste needs to be divided into 60 types- which none can do at their place.

So! We need to do something called as ‘reasonable’ segregation, which is to be designed specially for every waste management system. It should take into account- storage facility, transport and processing. The simplest segregation strategy is the 4 category strategy which is

1. Organic/ green/ wet/ compostable waste

2. Recyclable/ Dry waste

3. Building materials waste

4. Hazardous waste and trash

FALLING IN LOVE

Soon after moving to this side of Parle, I discovered what pleasure it is, to take a morning walk in the Prabhodhankar Thakrey garden. I started my morning walks in June. Within a couple of weeks, it rained and made the place prettier. A few days later, I was welcomed by a heady fragrance. Upon looking around I spotted a number of medium sized trees laden with bunches of tiny white blossoms giving out the smell. The smell was at once mild but totally mesmerising. I didn’t feel like leaving the garden that day.

I was eagerly looking forward to the walk next day. But the blossoms and the fragrance were gone. It was only a one day show! Everyday I waited for the flowering and it happened once again. It was magical how suddenly one day the tree would be covered in white, to be stripped of this the next day itself. As I walked around the area I saw this plant fairly widely distributed. It grows wild even on road dividers. So I have got myself a sapling from the roadside. Still encountering any tree of this variety made my heart flutter with the fondness of someone in love. I asked so many people about the plant’s details. Finally, I found the answer in ‘Trees Of  Mumbai”. It is a kunti- kamini tree.

Earlier I found peepal to be the prettiest tree. But now I am totally bewitched by the kunti kamini tree. I feel lucky that I live in an area which has large numbers of this tree and that they are actively increasing their numbers by growing wild everywhere. I hope my pot-sapling will grow well.

I still look forward to spotting a new sample and I am really propelled into a state of great happiness when I see the kunti kamini tree. This is nothing but falling in love.

PLANT RESCUE

Every year hundreds of seeds germinate to form saplings. We can see them on buildings, compound walls, footpaths, gardens....particularly in the rainy season. The type of saplings seen depends on the species of plants in that area as well as the bird and animal activity causing dispersal. So in parle the commonest saplings are of banyan, umber, peepal and ‘bor’, vilayati chinch, tamarind, jamun, mast tree, ‘bhendi’ and sonmohur. In fact, most of parle is populated by trees which grew like this. Earlier one would also see mango saplings, but these have reduced somehow. Nowadays due to the planted almond trees gaining maturity, one can also see almond saplings growing like this. In future, I expect there will be a lot more bakul and neem trees as the current trend is towards planting them. I have also seen sometimes saplings of pomegranate, guava on the roadsides.

Majority of these saplings perish. Main reason is the long dry season that follows the heavy rain. Secondly, for some odd reason most saplings crowd around electric poles, road signs and telephone wire boxes- naturally they have to be removed. Thirdly, as soon as parlekars spot anything that is more than a few inches in height, they begin to throw waste around it. The poor sapling gets smothered and dies away. The loss of such large numbers of ready saplings of native species from nature’s nursery is a real waste. So I decided to experiment: I collected few saplings of banyan and peepal and took care of them at home for couple of years. They have now been planted and are on the way to becoming handsome members of Parle. I now came to know, there is a formal movement in urban areas called ‘plant rescue’ which is precisely what I did. I recommend Parlekars to rescue as many plants as possible and this will help to make Parle green at very low cost.

Guidelines followed by me are- I watch the sapling for many days. It should be healthy and have a stem at least as thick as a finger. Very mature saplings are difficult to uproot. Saplings embedded in concrete are difficult to extract without damaging roots, but one must try very carefully. If each parlekar takes care of 1-2 saplings like this, we will have a large bank of ready and strong saplings for plantation. This is important because mature nursery plants cost hundreds of rupees and there is no guarantee of their health. Besides nurseries usually have fashionable plants rather than useful, hardy and local species.

Saplings are like children, if they get good care in early years they become strong a long lived. The saplings occupy very little space and can be grown for 2-3 years in an ordinary container of 5 inches diameter and receiving average care. One must however be careful about pruning it in such a way that the branching starts at maximum height. Because when you plant this tree along a road, if the branches are too low the tree will become an obstruction and also attraction for people to use as storage space. Unfortunately the roots remain shallow and as the sapling grows inside the container, it will need very strong support so that the main stem becomes straight. This will help it to develop a straight trunk. If the trunk is straight, the tree looks very good, does not obstruct and remains stable- not prone to fall as it grows. The sapling should be maintained at home till it forms a woody stem, at that stage it is ready to take on the world.

An added benefit is the oxygen we can get while this sapling is with us. So every year one can collect one sapling and after 4 years begin to search spots for planting them. 

सेग्रेगेशन चे वेड

कचरा व्यवस्थापनातला पहिला टप्पा म्हंजे कचर्याचे वर्गीकरण—याला सेग्रेगेशन असे म्हणतात.

सेग्रेगेशन कशासाठी?

वेग- वेगळ्या प्रकारचे पदार्थ वेग- वेगळ्या पद्धतीने मेनेज करायचे असते. सर्व एकत्र आल्यामुळे त्यांची विलेवाट नीट होत नाही किंबहुना त्यातून विषारी पदार्थ निर्माण होतात. म्हणून पदार्थांचा प्रकार बघून त्यांना वेग-वेगळे ट्रीटमेंट केली पाहिजे. ही शास्त्रोक्त आणि योग्य पद्धत आहे. नाही तर कचरा व्यवस्थापनाच्या पुढच्या प्रक्रियेला काहीच अर्थ राहत नाही.

साधे वर्गीकरण

कचर्याचे सर्वात साधे वर्गीकरण म्हणजे- ओला आणि सुका असे आहे. ओला म्हणजे सर्व सेंद्रिय पदार्थ असलेला कचरा- त्यात कच्चा आणि शिजलेला अन्न येत. सुका कचरा म्हणजे इतर सर्व कागद, प्लास्टिक, काचा, मेटल, ई वेस्ट वगयरे. सर्व साधारण व्यक्तीला असे करणे पुरे वाटते. काही संस्था सुद्धा हेच सांगतात. कारण सुका कचरा नेवून त्याचे पुढचे वर्गीकरण करण्याचे काम तिथे होत असते. पण असे करण्य मागचे दुष्परिणाम लक्षात आल्यावर, अजून व्यवस्थित वर्गीकरण करणे अपरिहार्य असल्याचे पटते...ते असे.

ओला कचरा

कच्चे पदार्थ सहजपणे आणि वास न येता खतामध्ये बदलतात. पण शिजलेले पदार्थ, मांसाहारी पदार्थ आणि दुग्धजन्य पदार्थांचे व्यवस्थापन जास्तं कठीण असते. त्यामुळे ओल्या कचर्याचे या दोन भागात वर्गीकरण करणे अगदी आयडीयल होईल. तसेच पाळीचे पैड, डायपर, ड्रेसिंग व असे इतर पदार्थांना ‘हानिकारक’ असल्या मुळे तीव्र अग्नीत जाळले जाते- (इंसिनरेशन).

सुका कचरा

पहिले तर ई-वेस्ट म्हणजे इलेक्ट्रोनिक आणि विजेच्या वस्तू वेगळ्या करणे- कारण त्यांचे प्रमाण कमी असले तरीही त्यातून विषारी पदार्थ निघून जल, वायू आणि माती प्रदूषित करतात. ते विशिष्ठ प्रक्रियेतून गेल्यावर हे प्रदूषण टळू शकते. स्वच्छ कागद आणि स्वच्छ प्लास्टिक वेगळे ठेवल्यामुळे त्यांचे पुनर्निर्माण अगदी सोपे होवून जाते आणि त्यासाठी खूप कमी उर्जेची गरज असते. शेवटी खराब कागद, खराब प्लास्टिक जसे दुधाच्या पिशव्या, लामीनेट केलेले कागद-पुत्ठे- यातून बरेच प्रक्रिया केल्या नानातरच काही मिळू शकते. सर्व सुका कचरा एकत्र ठेवल्या मुळे स्वच्छ कागद, प्लास्टीकही खराब होवून जातात आणि नुकसान होते. आणखीन एक म्हणजे काचा, थरमाकोल, धातूच्या वस्तू- हे सर्व पुनर्निर्माणसाठी घेतले जातात. यातील काही माल खूपच खराब असल्या मुळे तो पुरला किव्हा जाळला जातो.

वेड कसले?

पर्यावरणाचा विनाश होवू नये म्हणून कचर्याचे वर्गीकरण करण्यार्याला फक्त ओला आणि सुका असे करून समाधान मिळणे अशक्य आहे. वर्गीकरणमागचे विज्ञान समजल्यावर कुणीही समजेल कि वर्गीकरणाचे दोन मार्ग आहेत- एक सोपा आणि दुसरा योग्य...याला या विषयातील अडाणी जण ‘वेडच’ म्हणतील. पण हे वेड आजच्या काळाची तातडीची गरज आहे.

तर आदर्श वर्गीकरण म्हणजे

१.      हानिकारक कचरा

२.      मांसाहारी, शिजलेला आणि दुग्धजन्य पदार्थ

३.      बागेतला कचरा, पाने, फुले, फळ, भाज्यांचे भाग

४.      ई वेस्ट

५.      स्वच्छ कागद

६.      स्वच्छ प्लास्टिक

७.      काचा, मेटल, थर्माकोल, रबर इत्यादी

८.      खराब कागद, खराब प्लास्टिक

९.      बांधकाम कचरा

१०.  मोठ्या वस्तू

११.  कापडे 

TREES LIST

Aniket has consulted Dr Lattu, tree specialist from Parle and got a list of trees appropriate for planting at different spots in parle. We also added some of our suggestions and have come up with the following list-

TREE LIST                      

PLANTS FOR LANES

1.       Kunti Kamini- Nurraya exotica

2.       Trinayi mendi- lagestromia indica

3.       Creatia tapia

4.       Anant-

5.       Shankhasur-

6.       Adulsa

SMALL ROAD- UPTO 30 FT

1.       Sita Ashok

2.       Bhendi

3.       Bahava

4.       Bakam Neem

5.       Bakul

6.       Sonchafa

7.       Putranjiv

8.       Badam

9.       Shisham

10.   Pongaamia piñata

11.   Karanj

12.   Shami

13.   Mango

TREE LIST

PLANTS FOR LANES

7.       Kunti Kamini- Nurraya exotica

8.       Trinayi mendi- lagestromia indica

9.       Creatia tapia

10.   Anant-

11.   Shankhasur-

12.   Adulsa

SMALL ROAD- UPTO 30 FT

14.   Sita Ashok

15.   Bhendi

16.   Bahava

17.   Bakam Neem

18.   Bakul

19.   Sonchafa

20.   Putranjiv

21.   Badam

22.   Shisham

23.   Pongaamia piñata

24.   Karanj

25.   Shami

26.   Mango

SWACCHA PARLE ABHIYAAN

Folks! I have not been able to write for several months now- I now hope to be more regular.

The Swacch Parle Abhiyaan has started in right earnest (SPA for short). SPA is trying to reach out to as many people as possible so that Vile Parle East can eventually become a 'zero garbage' area of Mumbai.

Area covered under Swaccha Parle Abhiyan

It has three levels

First Level

All waste generated is to be segregated into following categories
1. Clean dry paper
2. clean dry plastic
3. Wet waste including sanitary pads, diapers and wond dressings
4. mixed dry waste means dirty papers and plastic, metal, glass
5. E waste including electronic and electrical materials
6. Debris

E waste, Dry waste are to be given for recycling to respective collecting agencies, so they will not go to landfill

Debris will be collected by MCGM against payment of nominal charges

Wet waste will be picked up by MCGM dumper and taken to landfill

Second Level

The wet waste (except bio waste) will be processed at source by methods like composting, biogas, etc

Third Level

Manure produced will be used in organic farming within Vile Parle East, itself

Its a grand plan....but I believe its possible....So wish us success

TREES- NATURAL AIR PURIFIER

My article published in a medical journal.

"TREES- NATURAL AIR PURIFIERS"
A Short Commentary
(February 2016)
INDIAN PRACTITIONER, VOL 69, NO. 2
Pgs 54-55

GROW FRESH AIR

I have always maintained a small garden in my house. Not only that gardening is among my favourite hobbies, but also I felt I could get fresh air. My garden also helps to keep the dust out, noise pollution is minimised and has a cooling effect on my home. The garden also uses up 30- 40% of my kitchen waste directly as mulch (the rest of it is converted into manure and then used in the garden).

In 2014, I became interested to find out which particular species of plants could help to maximise the air improving effects with minimum resources, mainly water. Someone told me that the ficus species (peepul, banyan) are very good for this purpose. As these are not ‘garden plants’ per se, I adapted the idea to my scale by growing them at bonsai level. But their growth is very very slow and I was thinking how much of a logic there is, in taking this further. Good part is- they are strong plants and need watering only once a week.

Last week I got forwarded this ted talk video and I am really happy to discover this piece of research. See it first:

This seems an elegant solution. But in a city like Mumbai, maintaining 10 plants per person indoors is not going to be possible. Space can be minimised with hydroponics, but this has to be proved by trying it out first. The three plants are small in size and can be kept outdoors also in shaded areas. So my idea is to see if they can be kept in building premises, on stair landings, parking areas and such other spots as much as possible. At least two plants can be kept in each room, which can provide some degree of air purification. The plants also do not require frequent watering or other fussing over, so it is a good idea to have them around. Only I need to check if the palms sold in nurseries are areca palms. The other two plants are quite easily available.

This idea is worth taking up.

CHANGE HAPPENS....ONE BUILDING AT A TIME

A subtle movement is creeping through Parle East since the last 6 months. Kolvankar Kaka has been the pioneer, visionary and guiding light of this movement. It has an equally impressive supporting cast of youngsters from Rotaract club. A number of enthusiastic Parlekars have joined in now. This group of garbage busters is called ‘Parle Clean- up Core’.

Devangini Society near Koldongari was Kaka’s laboratory where he carried out his ‘experiments with the truth’ about garbage management. Kaka is an architect. With his disarming mild manner and cheerful demeanour he was able to convince and train Devangini society members and staff to practise waste segregation. He implemented dry waste recycling and wet waste composting through vermiculture. This society now sends only minimal garbage to the landfill. They also earn some revenue through sale of dry waste and vermicompost. They have a lovely healthy garden in the society compound. All inside the premises of a standard space- starved building in the midst of Vile Parle East. Members are very busy and practically no staff has been hired. So the truth was revealed- building level waste management is possible inspite of the shortage of time, space and manpower. The Devangini team presented this truth to all of Parle in a presentation at Tilak Mandir last year. We all read Kaka’s pledge (previous posts). It was the beginning of this movement.

Through mutual consultation, core group members concluded that waste segregation is the most critical step for proper waste management and that this is best done at source. So ‘please segregate waste’ is the primary request that they are making. A letter and poster are being circulated through many societies in Parle. Many societies have taken great interest in this system and invited members of core group for presentation and consultation. Now a few elected representatives have also become supporters of this group. One milestone was achieved when simultaneously three meetings were held in Parle on 6^th Feb at different locations- the only agenda being waste management in parle. The meetings were attended by citizens and presentations were made about the principles and benefits of segregation. Group members would love to have more such meetings.

The clean up core group members hope to make Parle a zero garbage suburb, one building at a time.

TREE GROUP OF PARLE EAST

Since last year I have been part of a ‘tree group’. We are a not friends and not even activists. We are just a group of persons interested in increasing the tree cover of vile parle east. Aniket Karandikar has been doing most of the work and planning, though he hates to be called our ‘leader’. For me, he is THE LEADER of our group.

Aniket coordinated with the garden department of MCGM as well our Corporator Mrs Jyoti Alvani. He has taken as much support as they could provide. Rest of us are known to him, or acquaintances of friends or friends of acquaintances and so on......variously related to each other but connected through the same desire to have more trees in Parle. Aniket allotted us trees- we were given option of sponsoring the protective fencing around trees or to become tree parents by watering the saplings everyday in the dry months. The sponsorship amount was 1200/- per tree. He made small plaques citing name of sponsors as well as some with positive quotes. He has also been mulching trees with nirmalya flowers regularly. He removes garbage around the trees. And Jyoti Alvani gave us all letters of appreciation.  So in 2015 Aniket has been monitoring trees on Hanuman Road and Malaviya Road.

I used to water my adoptee everyday on the way back from dropping my kid to school. But in Divali vacation I had to request shopkeeper in Siddanchal building to take over as I was travelling. This tree got adopted by him eventually. Now I am ready to adopt another tree. Mr Ashwin from Guruprasad society is seen with a bucket watering all saplings and monitoring them early in the morning everyday- no one told him to do so. He saw the saplings and thought of caring for them- and became a tree parent. There are many such persons who have joined the tree group without even being aware of it. And there is nothing official about it!

Now we are looking forward to the  next round of tree plantation. Aniket has asked for suggestions about where to plant trees this year and also which species. Of course, he is clear that NO EXOTIC species will be planted....like Australian acacia. Also tree sponsors and tree parents are required and we are making lists. Tree plantation will be done in May and June, just before the rainy season.  Our saplings have shown good growth and by next year they will be independent trees. Every sapling needs outside support for 2 years. So under Aniket’s direction and planning, we hope to have a good tree plantation season.