A smart composting pattern has beautified and sustained this JVLR society

Using the Dalvi Pattern Smart Composting System, created by Dr Subhash Dalvi from the BMC’s solid waste management department, society members have devised a routine that involves every resident to keep the society self-sufficient and pristine

Mumbai: A housing society of 412 apartments in Andheri East has achieved zero-garbage status thanks to a composting system designed by a BMC official. With this system, the society also transformed a dump yard in its compound to a verdant and beautiful space where events are now held.

The Green Field Rocks End CHS in JVLR , has transformed a dump yard in its compound to a verdant and beautiful space where events are now held. (HT PHOTO)

Green Field Rocks End CHS in JVLR, winner of the Swacch Survekshan 2022 award, does not send its wet garbage to the dumping ground but deals with all of it in situ—this despite the fact that the 1,500-strong population of the society generates a whopping 350 kg of mixed garbage daily. Using the Dalvi Pattern Smart Composting System, created by Dr Subhash Dalvi from the BMC’s solid waste management department, society members have devised a routine that involves every resident to keep the society self-sufficient and pristine.

“In the Dalvi pattern, a special tank is created to convert garbage to compost,” explained society secretary Dr Rahul Chavan. “It is two feet deep and has grooves in it. The reason for these specifications is that wet garbage needs to have oxygen present till the lowest depth to prevent a bad odour and rancidity. The success of this pattern is that there is no stink.”

Further elaborating on the process, Ashwini Borude, chairperson of the BMC’s Shree Aastha Mahila Bachat Gat, who helps Dalvi set up the smart composting system, said that the grooves also kept away flies and mosquitos and lichen with larvae. “All extra gases like methane generated in such compost pits escape easily,” she said. “We also use a culture developed by Aastha, which is made from organic waste and decomposes garbage quickly.”

For dry waste, micro-segregation is done at source; paper, cardboard, tetrapacks, tin, aluminium foil, glass bottles and metal are segregated into 15 categories. “Even used clothes are separated and donated to domestic helps,” said Borude. “The vendor or kabadiwala comes to the society to collect the dry waste.”

The society has a dedicated housekeeping staff of six to segregate garbage at source into three containers. Domestic helps too have been trained in this. The quantity of the society’s wet garbage is 150 kg, and the manure from this is used for over 150 trees and six small gardens. “The area was a dump yard and in a shambles three years ago,” said Chavan. “We had to remove 15 truckloads of garbage from it. We built a well with water from reservoirs and the area was developed into a garden, where events are now held.”

The transformation of Green Field Rocks End CHS happened gradually over the last three years. On November 11 last year, the society won the Swachh Survekshan 2022 award and a cash prize of ₹50,000. Swachh Bharat Mission director Binay Kumar Jha, who reports directly to PM Narendra Modi, also paid a visit to the society.

“Every resident cooperates by doing micro-segregation,” said Chavan. “We had regular dialogues with people and our domestic helps and even penalised people ₹500 for littering or not segregating garbage. Just two years ago, we achieved 99 percent segregation, and our society is, as of today, the cleanest society in

Mumbai.”

Subhash Dalvi told HT that the society not only uses its compost for gardens and growing vegetables but also sells it. “It is a successful model of decentralised community waste management,” he said. “If every society follows this, the dumping ground load will reduce and transportation costs and pollution will come down. The whole idea is to give back to Nature.”