Kitchen Waste management- letter to Lokmanya Seva Sangh

DR VANI BADRISH KULHALLI

                                             MD (Psychiatry)

MMC Reg. No. 1469/ 2000/ 2

Address- 204, Shyamkamal C, Agrawal Market, Vile Parle East, Mumbai- 400057,India.

 Email- vanibk@rediffmail.com Ph. No.- 9819269628

To,

President,

Lokmanya Seva Sangh,

Vile Parle East,

Mumbai- 57

12-08-2015

Subject- Waste management at your premises

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I attended the program titled ‘Ghan-kacharyapasun shunya kacharya paryant’ conducted by your organization last month. I am impressed that your organization is taking a leadership role in a serious matter such as waste management.

As your neighbor, I have noted that your premises generates large amount of kitchen waste on a daily basis due to the catering activities. Frankly, this is a nuisance to us. The garbage is left for hours on the street behind your premises till the garbage truck picks it up. Therefore, you need to have some in- house system to manage this waste. I have come across a biogas system that can be easily installed at your premises to use the waste. The gas generated will result in revenue saving as it can be used in your kitchens and the manure produced can be sold commercially. I have enclosed a related newspaper article.

Since you have already taken a lead in creating awareness about solid waste management, establishing some system for it would be a logical next step. I am looking forward to your organization to take this step. As a member of your organization, it will make me proud to belong.

Copy to

1.       Mrs Belvalkar, Nagrik Dakshata committee

2.       Parle paryavaran-www.parlepurva@blogspot.com

Sincerely,

Dr Vani Kulhalli

Enclosure- article about biogas system. It costed only Rs6000/- 3 years ago!

पार्लेकरांनी संकल्प केला

लकमान्य सेवा संघात शनिवारी  झालेला कार्यक्रम 'घनकाचार्याकडून शून्य कचऱ्याकडे' खूप चांगला झाला.

पार्ल्याकी स्वच्छता सांभाळणारे आणि त्याबद्दल विचार करणारे सर्व उपस्थित होते.  तज्ञांनी पहिल्या भाषणासाठी जास्त वेळ घेतल्या मुले इतर महत्त्वाच्या काही भाषांना वेळ उरला नाही हे मात्र खरे. तरीही कार्यक्रम यशस्वीच म्हणावा, कारण स्वच्छतेचा बीज रुज्ल्याची लक्षणे दिसली. विशेतः भावी पर्लेकारणाचा सहभाग आणि उत्साह बघून खूप आनंद वाटला. आपल्या छोट्या दोस्तांनी सुंदर नातुकालीतून कचर्याच्या व्यवस्थापनाबद्दल खूप चांगली माहिती सांगितली.

एक मोठे रहिवाशी संघ म्हणून विजयनगर सोसाईटी आणि एकाच इमारतीचे देवांगिनी सोसाईटी बद्दल ऐकला मिळाले. या दोन्ही भाषणातून 'शून्य कचरा' प्रकल्प पार्ल्यात करण्यासारखे आहे आणि त्यातून अनेक फायदे आहेत असे समजले.

 वेळेच्या अभावामुळे उपस्थित जनप्रतिनिधी आणि महापालिकेच्या अधिकाऱ्यांशी संवाद साधता आला नाही. (असा फक्त पार्ल्यातच घडू शकता ना?). निदान पिंपळे साहेबांच काय म्हणणे आहे ते ऐकायची इच्छा होती. असो- असे कार्यक्रम वारंवार होवू देत, म्हणजे हे सध्या होईल.

शेवटी श्री कोलवणकर यांच्या मार्ग्दर्षानाखले उपस्थित पार्लेकरांनी संकल्प केला-..." जोपर्यंत हि भूमाता सुजलाम सुफलाम आहे, जोपर्यंत ती प्रदूषणमुक्त आहे, तोपर्यंत आपण आणि आपल्या पुढील पिढ्या आरोग्यमय जीवन जगतील. घरचे आरोग्य हे बाहेरील सार्वजनिक स्वच्छतेवर अवलंबून असल्यामुळे कचरामुक्ती हे कर्तव्य समजून या 'कचरामुक्त पार्ले' अभियानाला तनमनधनाने हातभार लावण्यास मी बांधील आहे."

एक प्रस्ताव- पर्लेकारांसाठी

एक पार्लेकर पर्यावरण मित्र, अंड माझे स्नेही अनिकेत करंदीकर यांनी दादरच्या स्त्री मुक्ती संघटने शी संपर्क करून पार्ल्यातील कचर्याची समस्या कशी सोडवावी यावर प्रस्ताव मागवला. स्त्री मुक्ती संघटना हि मुंबईत अनेक ठिकाणी कार्यरत असून, कचरा 'प्रोसेस' करण्यात त्यांनी खास यश मिळवले आहे. हि संस्था सेवाभावी संस्था आहे.

तर त्यांनी दिलेला प्रस्ताव- बायोगासचा आहे. ओळ कचरा या यंत्राने घातल्यावर रोज १०० किलो खात आणि बायो-गस मिळू शकतो. याचा खर्च ३५ लाख पर्यंत येयील आणि यंत्रणा बसवण्यासाठी जागा द्यावी लागेल. भाभा अणुशक्ती केंद्राचे श्री काळे यांच्या संशोधनावर अवलंबून हे प्रकल मांडलेले आहे. सुरु करून २ वर्षात पैसे फेडून येतात, नंतर खात आणि गस मधून मिळणारे पैसे हा फायदाच ठरेल. 

पण मला काही प्रश्न पडलेले आहेत:
1. पार्लेकर आपली सवय बदलू शकतील का? ओला आणि सुक्का कचरा वेगळा करून टाकतील का?
२. हा प्रकल्प पार्ल्यात कुठे उभा करायचा? फ्लायओव्हर खाली? सावरकर बागेत? महंत रोडवरच्या प्लॉटवर?
३. ह्याचे पैसे कोण देणार?
४. हा प्रकल कोण सांभाळणार?

या प्रश्नाची उत्तरे पाहिजेत, आधी कुणी केले आहेत त्यांच्याकडून कल्पना घेवून करता येयील
बघू या काय होतंय आज....... 

नमस्कार, पार्लेकर!

पार्ल्यातली मंडळी आता पर्यावरणाच्या सामसयाबद्दल जागरूक होत आहेत. निदान पालिका आणि पुढारी तरी. यासाठी उद्या, दिनांक १८ जुलै संध्याकाळी ६ ते ८ च्या मध्ये पार्ल्यातील लोकमान्य सेवा संघाच्या, गोखले सभागृहात परिसंवाद आयोजित केलेला आहे. पार्ल्यातील कचर्याची विले-वाट या विषयवार चर्चा होईल.

सर्वांनी जरूर या!
सोमवारी  तिथे काय घडले, हे या ब्लॉगवर वाचा

पुन्हा भेटू 

Environment pollution; Gandhi and the environment

I ordered these two TERI  Publications and finished reading them both in about a weeks' time. But this was probably among the longer weeks of my life- the books did not make a good reading.

My intention in buying the books was to get some new information- after all these books are published by TERI.

'Environment pollution' is a high school level book. It is the kind of book that lazy students read for their exams. It is written is typical , unimaginative text book style and has barely enough information.

'Gandhi and the environment' is a totally unnecessary as a book, for the amount of stuff that is presented in it now. All the information could have been condensed into a 600 word essay and displayed on the the TERI website. The last few chapters completely lack any substance- it appears that the authors were given to fill a certain number of pages and they blindly followed the brief. My feeling is that this is a good idea and title- someone with energy, enthusiasm and respect for readers needs to be engaged to extensively rework the book. I am sure there is enough material. Gandhi's thoughts are important- they can inform, inspire and make us feel proud.

TERI needs to really get its books reviewed and try to sell good quality material.

I have some more books to read- will post the reviews when done

DO YOUR OWN TREE SURVEY

Recently we have been reading about the tree census being conducted by the MCGM. So let us find out more.

What is a tree census or survey?

Tree census means simply counting trees. In a survey, we would also like to find out other interesting data- like where are the trees, what are the types of trees, what are problems faced by trees, etc.

Why should we do it?

It is important to know about the quantity and quality of tree cover. Serial surveys tell us if trees are increasing or decreasing. We can know the distribution of species. Data about health of trees helps to detect epidemics and other challenges. So tree survey is the basis for planning tree- plantation, tree maintainence systems

How is it done?

First one should define 'tree', 'shrub' etc. A tree is usually a plant more than 6 feet in height. Then the tree is located, counted and described in forms- when done manually. Some form of coding is required to make it easy to enter and analyse data. This time MCGM is using GIS- I dont know exactly how they do it.

Then data is tabulated and analysed

MY OWN TREE SURVEY- HOW? WHY?

Yes, you can choose your Society/ street or garden to do your own tree survey.

If possible take a youngster along- it is a great way to spend quality time with them. You will need to set aside 1-2 hours of the forenoon. Be equipped with a writing pad, survey sheet and a field guide such as 'Trees of Bombay" (BNHS). Just fill up the survey form. After checking for completeness, take the data home and upload results to your blog.

Other than the benefit of teaching our offspring about trees and bonding with them- doing your own tree survey helps you to keep a watch on the trees in your locality by establishing a baseline. And you can also detect any fraud or error by MCGM- look what happened with the DP!

Best wishes for your tree survey! It will be a great way to spend a morning!

TREE SURVEY FORM

Date- Area surveyed-
No	Species code	Status code- use as many codes as needed	Remarks
1
2
3
4
Total	A B C F G J M L P T

CODES- suggested

Species/ name	Code
Mango	M
Jamun	J
Peepal	P
Banyan	B
Audumbar	A
Palash- Flame of forest	F
Coconut	C
Nilmohur	N
Gulmohur	G
Sonmohur	S
Bahava- Golden Laburnum	L
Tamarind	T

Status	Code
Dead/ Unhealthy	1
Nailed	2
Cemented	3
Garbage	4
Hacked	5
Healthy	6
Protected	7

KHANDYA ALA........ANOTHER BIRD IN PARLE

White- breasted Kingfisher or Khandya

Like all Parlekar mothers, I was up at 5am cooking for my son's lunch-box.....and I could not believe my ears- a Khandya was calling. Although I could hear the call loud and clear- I dismissed it as being very unlikely and got on with my task.

Next day I heard the call again. This time I decided to investigate and there it was- a beautiful specimen sitting on the wire opposite Pethe building on Chittaranjan road. Calling loudly. I showed it to my husband and the sighting was confirmed. Actually I had spotted this bird at same site many years ago.....since forgotten. 

So Parlekars- we can one more species to our family.

But now I am curious as well as worried. Where does this individual live? Is it alone? How can we ensure its safety? Folks, this is surely PARLE's endangered individual- and I dont know what we should do next.