Lasara Society has been the trailblazer in disposing the garbage that Shillong generates, says Monkhmer Lyngdoh
IT HAPPENED at a time when the cry of a clean Shillong is just beginning to echo amongst the communities, the citizenry and the official circles of the State. That was ten years ago. At that time when heaps of rubbish are seen mushrooming in every nook and cranny of the city, a group of people decided to do something about it. And that they did and ten years down the line, they were still doing it.
The group, Lasara Society was formed as a self-help group in 2004. Its main operation is the disposal of solid wastes from participating households and some institutions and commercial establishments. At its nascent stage, the group from Mawlai having no financial and material resources, was fortunate to have had sponsorship support from Aus-Aid, an international agency. Procuring a loan for seed money, the group was able to procure one auto-truck. Prior to this, Lasara Society had made a study of the prevalent accumulation of household wastes and also a survey of households who are willing to participate in a new system of waste disposal it had evolved. Immediately, the society started its Solid Waste Disposal Project in over 100 households of Mawlai area. With dedication, foresight and shrewd management, the society had been able to sustain the project which is now in its 9th year of operation.
Today, Lasara Society had on its roster 2100 numbers of participating households which include a number of institutions and commercial units. It now has a fleet of six vehicles and a total number of 16 workers on its payroll.
The system introduced for its Solid Household Waste Disposal Project is basically under doorstep collection mode. Participating households have to accumulate solid household wastes in a container whose size and dimension is specified by the society. This is for purpose of uniformity. Its would collect the waste on a weekly and bi-weekly rotation and transport the waste to the landfill station of the Shillong Municipal Board at Marten. The monthly service fees fixed by the Society are based on distance from the landfill station and from frequency of waste collection.
Today, the society operated in a number of localities ranging from Mawlai to Nongthymmai and is waiting to expand its services to other areas and localities. With more than 2000 households, over 10,000 people are covered by the service of the society and it is estimated that about 500 tons of solid waste is carted annually by the society to the landfill station at Marten. To run the operation, the society employed drivers, waste collectors, fee collectors, a data entry operator and even the services of street sweepers who work independently but under the initiative and guidance of the society.
Workers of the Society were periodically provided counseling by the functionaries of the Society where they were trained and taught etiquette, work ethics and public relations. Although, most of the workers have not completed their education, they however managed to emulate the concepts and practices put forth by the management. The main focus of the group is service and sustainability. As its Secretary puts it, ‘It’s good to want to do something for the community but it’s how one do it and for how long that counts. We do not believe in the razzmatazz of one-off programs and functions.”
The two main objectives of Lasara Society are to work for public cleanliness in a sustainable manner and to look after the welfare of its workers. Its vision is to expand its project to other areas or to help other like-minded groups to take up similar projects not only in Shillong but in other townships of the State. Moreover, the society is looking beyond the horizon and is contemplating taking up of waste recycling, segregation of wastes as well as other related operations, if the opportunities arise. Till date, although there have been interaction with some government agencies, there have never been any kind of assistance from this quarter except for one pick-up truck procured under the MLA scheme of the then Mawlai legislator, FS Cajee.
However, the society was provided the much needed cooperation from some Durbar Shnongs, notably, Mawlai Iewrynghep, Mawlai Nongkwar, Lawjynriew and Risa Colony. Pauline Marbaniang, President of Seng Kynthei Risa Colony observed that the society’s “services are very satisfactory…and they have been regular, accommodating and pleasant”. The headman of Mawlai Iewrynghep, Kynsai Lyngdoh said” “The endeavour by Lasara Society has made our locality healthy and clean and the service rendered by it is deeply appreciated.’
Today, the Lasara Society is going full steam with its operation and more households are joining in the project. One of the reasons that the system it had evolved works is the doorstep collection mode where the people participating in the projects are spared the burden of having to wait for the waste disposal vehicle to come or worst to take their garbage to the road. In any case, most of the households are situated in by-lanes far from the main road and they simply cannot afford the time. For long time customers, a kind of bonhomie had developed with the workers and they are familiar with the working of the group, thus paving the way for healthy interactions. Being one of the first and definitely the first that stands the test of time, Lasara is now the biggest service provider and is certainly a trailblazer in waste collection and disposal.