Bengaluru's neighbor Shimogga features in Swachh Survekshan-2018, courtesy this man
Though Bengaluru has failed to find a spot in the recently released Swachh Survekshan 2018, one man from its neighboring district, Shivamogga has made Karnataka proud. 64-year-old T S Mahadevaswamy has won an award in the citizen participation category, for converting kitchen waste into compost using a PVC pipe. He began using this cost-effective method in 2016 and was thus made Shivamogga's Swachch Bharat mission coordinator.
All you need to manage waste: Cow-dung, jaggery, PVC pipe
The retired paper mill manager believes that managing waste lies in how efficiently wet waste is disposed. That's how he came up with this idea. For this method, one would need cow dung (fertilizer), jaggery (for growth of beneficial microbes), water and a PVC pipe. "1kg of kitchen waste gets converted into 100gm of manure and it only costs Rs. 600-700," he shares.
To start: Mix jaggery, dung, water and pour in pipe
Explaining how the manure gets made, Mahadevaswamy said a 6-foot long and 6-inches wide PVC pipe needs to be inserted 1.5ft into the ground. 1kg of jaggery, 1kg of dung and 10-15 lts of water are to be mixed together and poured into the pipe. After a day's wait, kitchen waste can be dumped in the pipe daily, while adding a mug of water every week.
It takes time, but generates results as manure is nutrient-rich
Mahadevaswamy, however, suggested that one should have patience. "It takes eight months to a year to generate manure," he informed, but his manure was lab-tested and was found to be rich in calcium, phosphorous and other nutrients. To monitor the progress, a stick needs to be inserted in the pipe. A wet stick means the process is active.
