GUWAHATI, July 26 - Care Assam has launched an endeavour, Affordable Waste Management Initiative (AWMI) as an attempt to find solutions to waste management in Guwahati.
The core objective is to offer a waste management design to the city in the form of satellite plants which could be easily fabricated by local materials and technology, which is self-sustaining, and revenue earning and which would supplement as well as complement the government�s waste disposal system.
The model is designed to offer the citizens a zero-waste place to live in, thereby enhancing the quality of the surroundings.
Pradip Baishya of Care Assam has designed a garbage bin which is portable with wheels and can separate dry recyclables and biodegradable waste in a single unit. A resident block in the Games Village Campus, Guwahati has been selected for the first phase of implementing this AWMI campaign.
�There have been several stages in this initiative, the essence of it being a community-led participation project. The main pillars of this project are simplicity, affordability and sustainability,� said Baishya.
The specially designed bins have been distributed among residents of a single block. Awareness about waste segregation has been carried out at the same time by Care Assam campaigners and the response from citizens has been encouraging and overwhelming.
The plant for segregating recyclables and wet waste has been set up in the locality itself in a plot offered by the residents. The plant consists of a semi-mechanised conveyor belt, de-humidifier, etc., which has been fabricated from locally available materials.
Significantly, the plant is run by ragpickers who have undergone training in health and safety and handling of waste.
The value to be obtained from the collected and segregated waste is the revenue which would sustain the lives of the ragpickers or other people running the plant.
�Localised satellite waste management plants combined with public awareness could supplement the municipal waste management system to a large extent and in the presence of both systems the garbage could be easily manageable. With bulk of the load being taken off from the existing municipal system, it could potentially function much efficiently and give us a cleaner city,� said Baishya.
