FEATURE

Don’t talk rubbish. Recycle it

:- Vaidehi Iyer

‘Garbage’ ‘Rubbish’, ‘Trash’, ‘Waste’ or even ‘Junk’- these have not just become improper nouns but derogatory adjectives as well. All that smelly stuff usually has us turning our noses up and our eyes away. Instead, let’s look towards solid waste management which tells us that the garbage we are disposing off, piling up in our landfills, leaving to leach into our water supply and subsoil ecosystem, burning and polluting is actually encashable wealth. If that sounds unbelievable we only have to look at what a committed band of volunteers have accomplished to realise that there is only thing we really need to throw away-our apathy.
Across India, transfer stations, which collect waste from small collection vehicles, subsequently bulk it up for cost effective transport to dumpsites or the so called ‘landfill’- basically any stretch of no man’s land where garbage is thrown officially or unofficially. No country has the space for the huge volumes of solid waste collected everyday-least of all a country as densely populated and as short of funding as India. Every single day, Chennai city dumps 3,500 tonnes of garbage into the environmentally sensitive Pallikaranai marshlands to the south of the metropolis. The subject of much debate and discussion, the wetland has been studied by many governmental and non-governmental sources. While there is a glut of information, all so ecologically dangerous and so often repeated that the subject has ceased to shock, there is a great paucity of alternatives. As the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board prepares to launch yet another major campaign to popularise source segregation of solid waste, the focus once again shifts to the origin of the stinking mess-every citizen with whom, knowingly or unknowingly, rests the answer. When we mix up organic and recyclable waste with non-biodegradable and hazardous waste, we are actually contaminating everything and creating an unmanageably large volume of solid waste, all of which is then hazardous. We have to stop dumping solid waste in eco-sensitive areas- but let us get the alternatives in place as well. This approach is the proven one, widely accepted as the norm even in developed nations which can afford sanitary landfills for removed from human habitat. The principle is simple and sound – solid waste has to be tackled at its origin.
Composting is a biological process in which microorganisms, mainly fungi and bacteria, convert degradable organic waste into a humus-like substance. This finished product, which looks like soil, is rich in carbon and nitrogen and is an excellent medium for growing plants. The process of composting ensures that kitchen waste-a significant contributor of every household’s bulky volume of garbage is not thrown, only to be mixed up with hazardous or recyclable rubbish. Apart from being clean, cheap and safe, coupled with the inherent quality of household replication, composting can significantly reduce the amount of disposable garbage. Says R. Madhavan, "I segregate all my household waste- the organic part gets converted into manure over a period of 45 days, all I do is maintain 2-3 bins and everything organic in origin, barring human hair and coconut matting, never leaves my home for the municipal system. Plastics, glass, jute and paper, I recycle. Which leaves only the hazardous waste like discarded tubelights or batteries- you will be surprised how
little you have to throw if you make a habit of source segregation. We city folk are simply too pampered and have little time to spare –but I genuinely believe increased awareness can make a great deal of difference". Today, we are paying money, for which we can have better health and better infrastructure, towards managing our waste, which we can very well do for ourselves.
Let us not waste
NGOs such as M.B. Nirmal’s Exnora International have succeeded in making source segregation a feasible example in over 60 community initiatives across Chennai as well as towns such as Vellore, Cuddalore and Salem. But there is a great deal more that needs to be done. Says Nirmal, "We are targeting schools in our campaigns because we generally find children more receptive-and parents more likely to listen to their children than us,"
Women like Mangalam Balasubramanian, who has sprearheaded one such initiative in the far-flung suburb of Pammal (the streets are clean, garbage is neither burnt nor dumped except for the small hazardous portion and Balsubramanian’s women’s group sells a tonne of rich organic manure every month, faster than they can make it) reports, "it is only difficult to convince people in the beginning-I was badmouthed and discouraged and told to mind my own business. But once the results start showing, it becomes much easier. Often, in my experience, I have found that leading by example gets better cooperation and results-although many people are willing to follow instructions when things are organized by someone else, they are rarely motivated to take up the initiative themselves."
Composting is attractive to municipal waste authorities for several reasons, the two most important being-saving landfill space and returning organic matter to the soil. Composting is not generally a profitable process. Worldwide municipalities have found that the composting process only becomes financially viable when alternative methods of disposal are less attractive. In countries where the cost of landfill has risen above the composting cost threshold, composting presents an attractive disposal option. Manufacturing good compost in large-scale quantities from municipal wastes demands the following primary ingredients:
• A secure land to land to accommodate the process
• Planning permission and utilities sufficient for the process
• A regular supply of uncontaminated waste as feed as feed stock
• Reliable size reduction machinery
• A homogenizing and maturing system
• A screening system
• A firm market for the products produced
• Feasible financial arrangements
A composting unit was set up in Kolkota in 1976 under government control and with state assistance. The processing capacity of the plant was about 40,000 tonnes of garbage yielding 16,550 tonnes of compost per year. Although the demand for the compost produced by the plant was high, the price was too high. Taking into account the initial capital investment, working capital, depreciation, interest charges and operating casts, the production costs were one and a half times the prices farmers were willing to pay. For these reasons, the plant was closed down shortly after it was commissioned in 1977, and no private entrepreneurs have since shown interest in reviving it. At the individual home level, however, even discarded tyres can work as compost pits. Financed by our time and supported by our willingness to do our bit, source segregation of waste shows us how both the problem and its solution lie in our hand.
Not a waste!
M.B. Nirmal of Exnora International explains, "Waste is of three kinds. Gaseous and liquid waste contaminate our air and water, and are more dangerous than solid waste, which is the most visible and ugly but also the least dangerous. The management of solid waste means a great deal more than relocating it from the streets to an unsanitary dumping ground. It is an unrecognised wealth which can be put to great use. Solid waste can be composed or recycled. Sixty per cent of our urban solid waste and 80 per cent of our rural solid waste is compostible. Most of the balance can be recycled to generate money. Such waste is easy to handle and in an agricultural country like ours, the end- product is certain and valuable."
The monetarily better-off localities generate roughly three times as much garbage as the slums but the population density in the later contributes to similar area-wise volumes. Though the per capita waste generation is vastly different, the middle class is known to waste food and their purchases are almost always extravagantly packed in plastic. Both economic classes require education in keeping with their environment and the one that must be saved. World over planners have changed their focus from a clean city to a sustainable one. Why waste the waste from which we can benefit financially? We save the expenditure on manpower and transport, we can save our subsoil, water and air from being polluted and by recycling and composting waste, and we can actually generate money. Zero garbage means zero transport, zero spending, zero cost, zero bacteria and zero budgets. It also means zero complaints and zero corruption.
Right in our backyard
One person who happened to meet M.B. Nirml at an ‘Exnora roof garden’ class was Padma Kalyanaraman, an idealistic and down-to-earth young woman who had moved to Chennai’s Chromepet suburb after
her marriage. Padma wanted to make her neighbourhood look better than the series of scattered rubbish heaps it was. "What is the use of keeping our homes clean but not our streets?" she wondered. With considerable encouragement and inspiration from Nirmal, she resolved to make her locality posh-a definition not of moneyed wealth but of model and tangible change. She, along with the equally idealistic, retired Administrative Officer from the Highways Department, V. Gopalkrishnan, revived the old local B-Men Association and added to it the title ‘civic Exnora’ (the B stood for Brave). Her whole family became deeply involved. P.Ganesan, head of the Kanchipuram District Exnora, gave them all the critical know-how inputs they needed. Usha Shanker was another enthusiastic organiser. The founding members contributed personal money of about Rs.10,000 to purchase necessities like a tricycle-the vehicle for garbage collection. In keeping with the dignity of the cause and its labour a ‘street beautifier’ was appointed. He would go from house to house and collect the garbage which the community now source segregated.
The beauty of this idea is simplicity itself. Every home maintained two sacks, one marked with a red cross into which went the recyclable waste like plastic, paper, metal and glass (which is sold as scrap) while the other took all the organic, biodegradable, wet or kitchen waste. Once the ball was set rolling, there were many good players. The compost’able’ (the Exnora’s inspirational spelling) waste was collected daily and arranged in the compost yard. This was started on a bushy, overgrown strip of land.
The volunteers worked hands-on in turning it from a ‘terrible mess’ into a levelled aerobic composting enclosure. The residents were of an open and participative mind. They are required to pay a nominal sum of ten rupees per month towards the whole scheme and they have turned source segregation "from being an activity into a habit" as Mr. Nirmal explains. Mrs. Kalyanaraman never shirked from picking up a broom and sweeping her street. The founder-members of the new effort spent another Rs.2,000 to ready the yard-it required filling with mud to prevent stagnation in the rains. Mr. Gopalakrishnan diligently inspected every street for every stray piece of uncleared rubbish. Today, the 10 streets comprising 250 houses do not have large bins overflowing with stinking garbage at the end of the road. The paths are clean and the compost yard is a neat block of 10 divided squares covered by coconut leaf mats and farmed by casuarina poles. Everyday, the recyclable rubbish is layered to reach a height of 2 feet. At the end of forty-five days when the last block is getting filled up, the first has become a rich, organic manure ready for sale at the nearby supermarket or for garden use by the community. Peppered with examples of selfless involvement and personal integrity, it is an unique as it is a rare, co-operative effort between a civic initiative and the political machinery. If this reads like a roll of honour its because they all did on honourable job.
PLANET E
The farmer’s best friend has a very human(e) buddy too. What are we talking about? Dr. Sultan Ahmed Ismail has been researching earthworms for the last 25 years and reassures us that, "There is still a great deal moiré to be learnt." From the little red things that burrow ceaselessly through mud to some great big ideas for a self-sustainable environment, Dr. Ismail has been following the earthworm’s long and invisible journey.
"It all began by sheer accident," explains the scientist, "I had completed my Ph.D in soil biology and one of my students came to me feeling quite disappointed-he had not been selected for the course of higher studies that he had applied for. An invitation from an ethological society happened to be lying on the floor-it had flown there from another colleague’s desk. Destiny, I am sure. We saw it and decided to make a presentation-just in order to do something positive. I called a lab attendant and asked him if any live specimen was available that day. He checked and said there-was-an earthworm." That was the beginning of the lifelong study of a humble creature capable of extraordinary good. In Dr. Ismail’s words, "None of us can keep up with digging, without tiring, after a few minutes. The earthworm has been doing it for millions of years, endlessly. It is the most optimistic organism in the world."
In order to study a species, it was required to be made available-which is why Dr. Ismail and his students began to ‘culture’ earthworms. Over two decades back, this was to be an early precedent to the currently prevailing waste management systems falling under the Vermitech umbrella-the technology which uses various varieties of earthworms in organic composting and soil management. From a successful project in Japan to workshops for farmers in uttar Pradesh, from talk shows on radio to games devised as educational tools, from programmers for school children to a smiling Komanthinayakan-a 100 percent organic agriculturist in the Puliangudi village of Tirunelvelli, Dr. Ismail has been there and done them all. "I don't think I have done anything unique," he says, "I am only furthering the native wisdom of the farmers."

Domestic Violence Protection Act:
An over view
:- Prof Sunita Khariwal
Dr. Chhaya Gala
Domestic violence and abuse in a relationship is inhuman, unacceptable and dreadful. There was a vacuum in the legislation to deal with the day to day cases of domestic violence, to prosecute and punish the perpetrators of the domestic violence. As a result, women suffered in silence through the hands of those who were to protect her , support her and look after her well-being.
Though the Indian Penal Code had sections 304B and 498A , but they weren’t adequate curb the atrocities committed against women. Thus, a serious need was felt for an Act which could specifically cater to every day domestic violence faced by women, and which could help women attain a dignified status. So the bill was passed by the legislature in 2005 and implemented from the year 2006. The aim of the legislation is to protect women and give them a decent and dignified status. It establishes the machinery to ensure effective protection.
The Protection of Domestic Violence Act provides a comprehensive definition of domestic violence. The term ‘domestic violence’ has been made broad enough to include every possibility as it covers all forms of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse that can harm, cause injury to, endanger the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, either mental or physical of the aggrieved person. This is a truly broad definition which covers every possibility.
Even the definition of an ‘aggrieved’ person’ is wide enough to cover the wife, any female sexual partner, daughter, mother, sister, child (male or female), widowed relative, in fact, any woman residing in the household who is related in some way to the respondent, is covered by the Act .The Act is enacted on the basis of the constitutional guarantee under Articles 14, 15[3] read with 21. The United Nations Committee on Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has also recommended that State parties should act to protect women against violence of any kind especially that occurring within the family .
The Act allows magistrates to impose monetary relief and monthly payments of maintenance. It stresses on the need of an ‘aggrieved women’ to seek immediate relief, compensation and also rehabilitation.
The respondent can also be made to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person and any child of the aggrieved person as a result of domestic violence and can also cover loss of earnings, medical expenses, loss or damage to property and can also cover the maintenance of the victim and her children . The magistrate can order the respondent pay compensation and damages for injuries including mental torture and emotional distress caused by acts of domestic violence.
The Act has created a novel agency called the ‘service providers’ who are entrusted with the job of filing Domestic Incident Reports with the Magistrate. The Act creates an extraordinary post of a Protection officer who is given with the responsibility of taking expeditious steps for providing timely relief and it also grants authority to the Magistrate to give sufficient relief in the form of maintenance orders, custody orders and compensation. The Act allows magistrates to impose monetary relief and monthly payments of maintenance. The Act provides for a penalty of up to one-year of imprisonment and/or a fine up to Rs. 20,000/- for an offence.
The magistrate had been empowered to protect the woman from acts of violence or even "acts that are likely to take place" in the future . As per section 18 of the Act he can prohibit the respondent from dispossessing the aggrieved person or in any other manner disturbing her possessions, entering the place of work of the aggrieved person, if the aggrieved per
son is a child , it can be the school. The respondent can also be restrained from attempting to communicate in any form, whatsoever, with the aggrieved person, including personal, oral, written, electronic or telephonic contact. The respondent can even be prohibited from entering the room/area/house that is allotted to her by the court.
The offence is cognizable and non-bailable. The court can conclude that the offence has been committed on the sole testimony of the accused .The Act ensures speedy justice because the court must start proceedings and have the first hearing within 3 days of the complaint being filed in court and every case must be disposed of within a period of sixty days of the first date of the hearing. So the indefinite waiting for justice is done away with. This is a highly laudable provision of the Act.
This Act is an befitting answer to the patriarchal society. It can definitely help in restoring the lost status to women and bringing an end to the humiliation and cruelty which have been accorded to women since decades. Women can have a better chance of fighting injustice and oppression meted out to them. Men have used their physical power to silence women into subordination. Though it is a much needed law because women have been beaten/harassed / tortured by men in various ways for their faults and without their faults both, but at the same time the Act has provisions which could be misused and abused.
The Act does not have provision to punish the abuse of law by making false and malicious complaints. S.14 of the Act may prescribe counseling for either of the parties, and delay proceedings up to two months. If that happens, speedy disposal of the case may be adversely affected.
The terms "emotional abuse, insults and verbal abuse" in the Act are extremely relative and subjective, often depending on one’s mindset. The husband does not have any recourse in case of any abuse by the wife. Another pertinent laxity that can be pointed out as also recently reiterated by the Supreme Court is that the definition of "shared household" as mentioned in the Act is vague and laid that the parents independent property in which the husband does not have any share will not amount to "shared household ".
The Act almost gives a legal sanction to live in relationships , which is not socially acceptable in a country like India. The law confers rights on women but not on men when perhaps he is the victim of violence from a women. A strange aspect of this Act is that it does not distinguish between actual abuse and threat of abuse and to even a likelihood of abuse .
This Act has made marriage unsafe and precarious. It could be that a woman is used only as an instrument to settle the scores by men. She may be forced to lodge false complains against her relatives or husband at the behest of her other male relatives.
In an ordinary common example, if a boy marries a girl, but the marriage does not last, the boy has to provide her with a home, provide her maintenance for her entire life if she is not earning, ensure the same standard of living to her as she had when she was in her matrimonial house, and probably face charges under section 498A of Indian Penal Code. He is not even permitted to sell his house without the consent of his ex-wife who can continue to live in his house if she so wishes even after the legal divorce.
It is hoped that this Act will ameliorate the position of women towards betterment, make their homes a safe place to be in and is used more in the spirit in which it is meant.

3.General Recommendation No.XII (1989)
4. S.22 of the Act
5. S.18 of the Act
6. S.32[2] of the Act
7. S.R. Batra and another Appellants Vs. Smt Taruna Batra Respondent, (2006) SCCL.COM (case/ Appeal No. Civil Appeal No. 5837 of 2006( with contempt petition (c) No. 38 of 2006)