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VST VELLORE TN SRINIVASAN waste management

'Satyamev Jayate started a fire'


Cows, hens, frogs, ducks and earthworms—these are only some of the ‘workers’ helping C. Srinivasan to convert garbage into gold. Srinivasan, who

appeared on the Don’t Waste Your Garbage episode, spoke about the ‘Vellore model’ of solid waste management which involves both animals and human

beings in reusing and recycling waste. After the show, people from all walks of life approached him to learn more about handling waste responsibly. He us

tells us more here.

After the episode was aired on the morning of March 16, my phone was engaged all day, till late at night. I used to think garbage was a dry subject and

nobody was really interested in it. But I was surprised that so many people want to see India clean.

Through the show, people learned about the reality of garbage and began to realize that the problem is solvable. They now want to see change in their own

localities and become involved in bringing about that change. So, making India clean may not be far off. You have lit the fire and it has caught on like a forest

fire; it cannot be stopped.

I was contacted by people from 16 states, and received nearly 300 emails. Out of these 50 were from total strangers. The people who contacted me wanted

to know more about our Solid and Liquid Resource Management programme and implement it in their own areas. Some people even said, ‘I will give my land

for this project, but I need your help with the technology.’ It isn’t so easy for people to promise their land for a project like this. Students contacted me to learn

more about the SLRM project so that they can get involved in it soon after they graduate.
I also noticed that highly qualified people want to get involved in managing unwanted materials. Normally, such people want to sit in AC rooms and expect

that people will come to them. But here, people with MBAs, MScs, PhDs and other postgraduate degrees contacted me. Most of them want to get involved in

the field, to use their hands. Some want to use this method to develop a business; others just want to help society. At the moment, two people with MBAs are

being trained by us. I feel that all these people are definitely going to be change-makers. Earlier, we were on the lookout for change-makers, but here they

are waiting for us!

In addition to this, I received 12 emails from outside the country, including from a Madagascan diplomat stationed in Poland, who has approached the

president of Madagascar and asked for the implementation of the SLRM programme in that country. Many people have expressed the desire to visit us and

see the project site in Coimbatore. Looking at this response, we have decided to set up a training centre not only for people in Tamil Nadu but for people

from across the world. They can come for a one-day visit or for a 15-day training programme, which will help them understand all the different aspects of

treating and recycling unwanted solid and liquid materials. They could also stay for a year and get certified as a Grassroots-Level Consultant in SLRM from a

local university.

Today, I still receive emails and calls from people who have seen the show. We’ve been waiting for this kind of response for years. Satyamev Jayate was like

a rocket that pushed the issue of garbage into space. Now we just need to get it into orbit.

C. Srinivasan is the project director of Indian Green Service, an environmental organization. He can be contacted on velloresrini@hotmail.com.

Source: http://www.satyamevjayate.in/Dont-Waste-Your-Garbage/EPISODE-3Impact.aspx?uid=E3-Impact-A1

Garbage is not a waste but a resource: C Srinivasan


Silchar, March 26: People should take the initiative and be responsible for keeping their city
clean. One should not sit idle by giving responsibility to the government only. Garbage is not a
waste but a resource. People entertain a misconception that garbage is a waste which cannot be
used any further and thus should be dumped. In fact, waste products and unwanted materials
can be utilized in many ways,” said guest speaker C Srinivasan, project director, Indian Green
Service (IGS), Vellore, Tamil Nadu, at the inaugural ceremony of the two day workshop on Solid
and Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) at the packed auditorium of District Library here
today.
The workshop titled ‘Convert Garbage to Gold’ has been jointly organized by the District
Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department of
Cachar, under the Clean Silchar Initiative – My City My Responsibility. Addressing the huge
gathering, C Srinivasan further said that most of the municipality boards clean the city off and
dump it at a trenching ground which in turn swells into hill of garbage, leading to a host of
diseases. He said, “SLRM will take the responsibility of collecting these waste products from each
house twice a day and segregated it into different categories. As a result of this segregation,
these waste products will not end up buried in the ground. It takes 12 hours for the leftovers to
decompose and 24 hours to stink. This attracts flies which spreads deadly diseases. The garbage
which is thrown comes back to us in one way or the other.”
“In this workshop, we will learn how to lessen the amount of garbage from our houses and
roads. The population of Silchar is 1 lakh and there are 20000 families and 3000 shops in the
municipal urban area. We need 666 women working in different Self Help Groups (SHGs) who
will collect the waste products from door to door twice on daily basis. It will not only create
employment opportunities but also keep the city clean,” Srinivasan added to say. He pointed out
that there are innumerable advertisements on sanitary napkins and diapers which are telecast
on the television. “Strangely enough, nobody cares to instruct where and how to throw sanitary
napkins and diapers. It is unhealthy and insanitary to throw these things hither and thither,” said
Srinivasan.
The telecasting of Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate featuring C Srinivasan set the stage on fire and
heralded revolutionary changes in many parts of the country. He appeared on the ‘Don’t Waste
Your Garbage’ episode and spoke at length about the ‘Vellore model’ of solid waste
management which will be of benefit to both men and animals. His telephone has been ringing
since then. “We are privileged to have him amongst us. He was scheduled to come in the month
of October, 2017. The mindset of the people has undergone sea changes. Now people hesitate
to throw anything on the ground and search for a dustbin instead,” said S Viswanathan, IAS,
Deputy Commissioner cum Chairman DDMA of Cachar, while delivering the key-note address.
The DC added to say that there was initial resistance and refusal from people regarding the door
to door collection by the SMB workers which started in December 2016. “However, they finally
agreed. The number of garbage points has been reduced to 25 to 30 from 150. There should not
be any such points in the city. Garbage cannot be avoided but can be utilized. Per day 250 grams
of waste products are dumped into dustbins. SLRM will further reduce it since C Srinivasan will
show how to segregate these products at home itself before being given to the collectors, he
added to say.
Niharendra Narayan Thakur, chairperson, Silchar Municipal Board, said, “Since our Board came
into being on April 2, 2015, we have been requesting the authorities concerned to free the
trenching ground at Meherpur from the grip of illegal entities and unscrupulous persons. The
trenching ground is virtually in the grip of encroachers. The 3 NGOs have been collecting wastes
from each and every house regularly, but lack of ground area has become a matter of concern
for us.” He further said that at present there are no funds to implement scientific and technical
modes and machines to turn garbage into gold. “We have requested the Union Government and
the authorities concerned to sanction an amount of Rs.20 crores,” added the chairperson.
Along with the episode of Satyamev Jayate featuring C Srinivasan, a number of educative videos
and documentaries were screened at the auditorium in the technical session. These videos
featured the pathetic picture of garbage sites across various cities of the country. Among others
present at the inaugural ceremony included Rajib Roy, ACS, Additional Deputy Commissioner
(ADC) cum chief executive officer, DDMA, Cachar, J R Lalsim, ADC Cachar and chairperson of
Lakhipur Municipal Board, N J Choudhury, executive engineer, PHE, Div – I, Rathindra Dey,
executive engineer, PHE, Div – II, Kuldeep Hazarika, circle officer, Silchar Sadar, Pradip Kumar
Gupta, circle officer, Lakhipur and assistant commissioners Basabi Thakuriya and Debojyoti
Gogoi.
Source http://silchar.com/garbage-is-not-a-waste-but-a-resource-c-srinivasan/

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