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Schools learn lesson in
better waste management
Local NGO and resident have been getting educational institutions
to stop using community bins and arrange for garbage pick-up instead
By: Divya Verma
January 12, 2006
Following the successful implementation of the garbage pick-up project
in Bombay Cambridge School in Amboli last month, Veera Desai Road
resident Rekha Azgaonkar along with the NGO FORCE, who have spearheaded
the project, are now trying to involve other schools in the area.
To minimise the use of community
bins, FORCE has been working along with the BMC to provide a van
to pick up the trash generated in schools at least twice a day.
Says Bombay Cambridge principal
K Katial, “We started the system almost a month ago and it has proved
very beneficial. Earlier, both the dry and wet waste was dumped
in the community bin outside our school. Since garbage wasn’t collected
on a regular basis, it would scatter on to the roads stink.”
She adds, “After FORCE approached
us we immediately agreed to the idea because now we don’t want contribute
to the dirt outside. Now everyday at 11 am and 7 pm the van comes
and picks up the garbage from the school’s doorstep.” The school,
which has 2,300 students, generates almost four bins of garbage.
Now Azgaonkar and FORCE members
have approached MVM School at Veera Desai Road. Says AK Thingalaya,
the school’s officer in-charge, “The NGO members told us that they
would send the garbage pick-up van twice a day to collect dry waste.
Right now we just dump garbage in the bins outside our school and
other buildings in the area and the BMC picks it up whenever they
come to clears the bins. However, this initiative taken by FORCE
will be beneficial because the vans will be regular and the garbage
will be collected from the school’s doorstep.”
Says Nayama Sargaonkar, supervisor
from FORCE, “We have been associated with many schools from the
K-west ward. Currently we provide this service to Bombay Cambridge,
Jamnabai Narsee and other BMC schools.
Talking about their plans to expand,
Azgaonkar, who has been taking active interest in the project, says,
“The schools that have adopted the system are quite happy with it.
They can be examples for other educational institutions. Our aim
to minimise visible garbage and if this initiative is adopted by
all schools then it’ll go a long way in ensuring our goal.”
Later this month they will approach
schools in Vile Parle and in Feb they will visit schools in JVPD
like Utpal Sanghvi, Maneckji Cooper, AVM etc. They have been asked
by the BMC to visit all schools in the K-west ward.
Officialspeak
A BMC official from the environment
department says, “The NGO is working in tandem with the BMC, since
we have decided to do away with community bins. We provide them
with BMC vans and they co-ordinate with the schools. If others co-operate
and work with us the way the NGO does, it’ll definitely help speed
up the process of ensuring a cleaner and greener environment.”
| Publication: Metro Andheri; |
Date: Jan 12, 2006; |
Section: -; |
Page Number: 13 |
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