NMMC teaches waste segregation through Dry Waste Bank project

Over 2,000 students from Class I to X studying in 15 schools across Navi Mumbai participated in the initiative.

Navi Mumbai

NMMC teaches waste segregation through Dry Waste Bank project

To instill the importance of segregating solid waste among children, the education department of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has come up with the novel concept – Dry Waste Bank. Over 2,000-odd students studying in 15 schools across Navi Mumbai participated in the initiative. Students from Class I to X for more than a year have been collecting dry waste and have maintained a record of the waste collected in a passbook.

Last week, the corporation conducted a special felicitation programme of the students who had collected the largest amount of dry waste. Student Shubham Pal from S.S School, Nerul scored the highest 2,500 points followed by NMMC school no 2 student Ekta Suresh Koli who collected 2025 points and Vashi Gaon school student Vansh Keshav Shinde picked up the third spot with 700 points.

Teachers distributed pass books for students to record the waste collected. “The Dry Waste Bank program has been going on for more than a year. Students were provided with cloth bags to collect wrappers, glass or plastic bottles etc. The materials collected were recorded in a passbook. Once a week, students assembled to deposit the dry waste. Points were given in the passbook as per the waste collected,” said Padmakar Patil, the coordinator of the event and retired school teacher.

Points were given based on the kind of waste collected. Accordingly, students were given one point for 10 units of chocolate or wafer wrappers, and two points each for collecting pet bottles, household plastic, glass bottles. “The idea behind the project is to make children socially responsible when it comes to segregating waste as well as dealing with the public menace of littering. The point system instilled a sense of competition amongst the students,” said Dr. B Rajale, the Director of Swachha Maharashtra Abhiyan.