Dasara waste to help MCC produce more compost

11.20 tonnes in all; food mela, palace, open air theatre generated most

 Every event has two sides. On one hand, the recently concluded Nada Habba Dasara with its melange of attractions, especially Jamboo Savari attracted people in hordes. On the other hand, it produced waste, that would help Mysore City Corporation (MCC) produce additional compost.

In a span of nine days from October 16 to 24 the waste generated in the core area of the city was  11.20 tonnes. Health officer of the city corporation Dr D G Nagaraj told Deccan Herald the wastes of types; degradable and non-degradable generated from the afore said area can be put at 1.24 tonnes per day. 

Nagaraj who was also the working president of Dasara Cleanliness and Hygiene Sub-committee said the core area consisted of the Palace, Hardinge Circle, Statue Square (Chamarajendra Wadiyar Circle), Bamboo Bazaar, K R Circle and KSRTC City Bus Stand (CBS). Among them, Food Mela organised at the grounds of Command Area Development Authority (CADA) office opposite Palace generated highest of 80 kg waste per day.

It was closely followed by the Palace; the venue of cultural programmes where plastic waste topped over other wastes, open air theatre the venue of Yuva Sambhrama that was the hub of activity with youth in large numbers thronging the place daily for cultural treat, Chikka Gadiyaara junction and surroundings of Curzon Park where Flower Show another most visited place during the festival was organised. It was high especially on and after Ayudha Puja as the plantain leaves and ash gourd that remains unsold were abandoned.

Normally the core area generates 10 tonnes of waste per day totalling 400 tonnes everyday from 65 wards in the city. To keep the city clean during Dasara and maintaining hygiene during the festival, a total of 280 pourakarmikas were involved in night sweeping.

The waste collected was loaded into 12 auto tippers and then shifted to three lorries to eventually dump the same at sewage treatment plant at Sewage Farm in Vidyaranyapuram.

Challenge

The most challenging area to maintain cleanliness was Sayyaji Rao road. Devaraja Market on the stretch of the road generates back to back waste and it grew manifold during navaratri.

To be precise, the market alone produces huge waste in every 24 hours.
The only benefit however is, the additional waste will help Mysore City Corporation (MCC) produce more compost at the rate of two to three per cent than the normal days. ILFS, a company that treats waste and converts the same into compost at the plant, gives MCC 40 per cent of total compost besides paying royalty of Rs 15,000 per month.