The societies will initially get a rebate of 5 per cent, which we will increase later as progress is monitored, says additional municipal commissioner
Composting plant at Godrej Baug at Malabar Hill, where residents use the manure to grow their own vegetables. Pics/ Ashish Raje
Two housing societies in South Mumbai have become the first winners of BMC's incentive for processing their own waste. The civic body will give the two societies at Malabar Hill a tax rebate when they file their next property tax bill, and its officials will monitor their progress on a regular basis.
Godrej Baug residents are not only treating their garbage, they are using the manure from the composted wet waste to grow "organic" vegetables. Shehnaz Khambatta, a resident, said there are 500 flats in the society and they generate between 85-120 kg of waste daily.
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"All the residents segregate their garbage into dry and wet waste. Another round of segregation is done before composting to ensure no plastic remains in the wet waste," she said, adding that the entire process is clean and doesn't leave any smell or leachate.
"The manure we get is pure and free of any chemicals or fertilisers. We are using it to grow organic vegetables like coriander and spinach," she said.
All Parsi colonies to compost
Setting up the waste processing unit at Godrej Baug was the pilot for the project taken up by the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP). Kersi Randeria, a BPP trustee, said composting will start in other Parsi community colonies too.
"Composting our waste will help save the environment and we are fine tuning the process at Godrej Baug. We will implement the formula simultaneously in other societies like Khareghat Colony at Malabar Hill, Navroze Baug at Lalbaug and Khushru Baug at Colaba," said Randeria. The BPP maintains around 18-20 colonies in the city.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner said, "The first two proposals have been approved. We will initially give 5 per cent tax rebate and increase it later."
Civic officials from the Solid Waste Management Department said that ward officials will conduct regular inspections. "The rebate will be considered from this month onwards and will reflect in the next bill," said a civic official.
The second winner
The other society that has become eligible for the rebate is Infinity Towers. The residents have been processing their wet waste for nearly a year and have installed an automatic compost machine that can process 100 kg of waste at one time. The society generates around 50 kg of waste every day and the BMC garbage trucks come to pick up the dry waste three times a week.
Suresh Deora, chairman of the society, said they have followed all the directions and they hope that they will get 15 per cent tax rebate soon. "We have 42 flats in our building and we have given different coloured bags to all the residents for segregation. The wet waste is processed by the plant and we use the manure in our gardens. The incentive is for a good cause and other societies should also adopt it," said Deora.
50kg
of waste the society generates every day
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