By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: World Water Day with the theme ‘Water and Food Security’ was organized at Yojana Bhavan, Main Secretariat on Thursday. Project Director, Indian Green Service, C Sreenivasan nicknamed Vellore Sreenivasan because of his humungous effort of turning ‘garbage to gold’ in Vellore, made a presentation of his roadmap of managing garbage scientifically.
Sreenivasan made a presentation on solid and liquid waste management involving segregation of waste at the household level into biodegradable and non-biodegradable.
“Most people think that garbage is a problem. But with our model, we teach people what to do with it. We educate people at their doorsteps on zero waste management and how garbage can become an earning if managed properly,” Sreenivasan said adding that the Vellore Model has also been replicated in Mysore Municipal Corporation in Gujarat and Sikkim doing wonders wherever it is launched.
Explaining further about the ‘Solid and Liquid Resource Management’ (SLRM), he said that it is a technique to manage the solid and liquid wastes, efficiently. He said that any biodegradable waste becomes a waste only after a day, when it starts emitting foul odour.
“Now people are earning as we have several products which are sold in the targeted markets. Our workers are trained in the project for 15 days. They go from house to house twice a day to collect domestic waste,” he said adding the project has become a source of livelihood for many.
Sreenivasan’s presentation showed women’s self help group doing the work of waste collection, segregation and various other secondary and tertiary work in turning waste into manure. He also showed different natural ways of decomposing organic waste such as using chicken, and ducks to clean up algae and eat up the fish waste from the markets etc.
Earlier, Phrang Roy, Former Assistant President of International Fund for Agricultural Development addressed the gathering online from Rome. He said, “World Water Day should remember us of our ancestors and the traditional ways they showed us to live sustainable lives.
“This is a collective responsibility. Today around 40% of the world population are residing in areas where there is water scarcity due to mining, deforestation etc. Climate change is contributing towards water problem besides rapid urbanization,” he said.
Expressing his concern Roy said that with people’s higher income and growing population, there is increasing demand for water in agriculture, hydro-electricity and other human activities and said this called for finding solutions to ensure the sustainability of the human race.
Principal Secretary, Water Resources, RM Mishra said that water cannot be managed by any agency but it is a social responsibility.
Chief Secretary, WMS Pariat said he learnt a lot from Phran Roy’s article in The Shillong Times about how much water is needed to produce one tomato or beef etc.
Commenting on mining and deforestation, Mr Pariat said nature can only do so much but it cannot take the continued onslaught.
Pariat expressed his happiness at the present efforts of civil society to rope in government to clean up the Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi.