South corp to install wood chippers for green waste disposal
The mounting garbage at city’s landfills is prompting civic agencies to look for alternative solutions for disposal and treatment of waste.
The mounting garbage at city’s landfills is prompting civic agencies to look for alternative solutions for disposal and treatment of waste.
Out of 2,700 metric tonne of garbage collected from south Delhi every day, one fifth comprises green waste. For the proper disposal of this waste, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) is installing wood chipper machines in each zone.
A wood chipper is a machine used for reducing wood (generally tree limbs or trunks) into smaller wood chips, which can be used as manure in parks/gardens. “The shredded waste is piled in a corner and with the help of moisture it converts into manure in 10 days,” said a senior official from the horticulture department.
The machine reduces the volume of green waste to about one-tenth, he claimed. In other words, a truck which can transport 10kg of waste at a time can easily carry 100kg of the shredded waste, said Shailendra Singh, standing committee chairman, SDMC.
The SDMC had initiated the wood chipper project six months ago at Green Park extension. The corporation installed one machine in its nursery. “The machine helps in shredding tonnes of green waste generated from Green Park as well as nearby areas. These machines are portable and suitable for being towed behind a truck or a van,” said a SDMC official.
After the success, the corporation installed more chipper machine at Saket, Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Mayfair Garden, Khel Gaon and Masjid Moth.
The SDMC usually dumps the green waste collected from parks at the Okhla landfill site.
However, due to shortage of staff and vehicles for transportation, the horticulture department sometimes fails to collect green waste from its parks for months. This gives rise to unhygienic condition and increases incidents of burning of green waste.
“Unfortunately, despite the high court and National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) ban on burning of waste, residents are flouting the rule. To resolve the issue we have decided to install machines in all four zones in the next three months,” said a senior SDMC official.
The SDMC will soon set up two machines in west and central zone. It has also placed order for buying 10 more machines for these zones.
