The Superwomen of Harithakarmasena in Karulayi Panchayath are keep on changing the life of a village altogether! With commitment and confidence in themselves they are making Karulayi Panchayath a better place to live in. A group of few women came forward to keep their place clean believing that it’s something more than a job. The main aim of the programme was to make Karulayi, a waste free panchayath. To minimize the use of plastic and to make people aware of the hazardous effects of plastic, collect and send them for recycling and to decompose the biodegradable waste etc were the main aim of the programme.
15 people were identified as green technicians in the village. The service of Mr. Ibrahim, an expert in a waste segregation was made used for collecting the waste and sending them to the recycling units. 12 tonnes of non biodegradable waste was sent for recycling. An amount of Rs 20 was collected from the households and Rs 50 was collected from shops as user fee. Special notices were distributed among the households and shops. Publicity was also given to spread the message to everyone. A carry bag was given to store the wastes. A vacant space in a remote place in Karulayi was chosen to segregate the wastes. A tie up was done with Green Worms Eco Solutions, a social impact enterprise based in Calicut, for collecting the non biodegradable waste and to process it further. Kudumbashree women collected the waste store in each households and shops and took it to segregate and sent it to the Green Worms for further processing. The waste is segregated into different sections based on its features. H.M White, P.P, H.M, LDPrint, Bajar, Ganny, Bulb, PVC, steel, tubes, bottle, E- waste, LD(Glucose), Bottle caps, Spray bottle etc.
Uniform, shoes, gloves, baskets, face masks, knives etc were given to the green technicians for performing segregation activities. The waste is being collected from the households in monthly basis and from shops in weekly basis. A card was distributed among the people to record the user fee collected. The card includes the date waste was collected, the quantity of waste collected, the amount collected from the households/ shops and signature. This was made compulsory to maintain a transparent and fruitful association between those who collect waste and the house owners. For disposing the rejects (Glass wastes, bags, umbrellas, foot wears) Rs 27,000 would be paid for the company from Panchayath Fund. Separate register was kept for weighing the amount of the different category of wastes. While sending the waste to Green worm Eco Solutions, presence of Panchayath President, Secretary / concerned official and health inspector is ensured. A review meeting is also held once in 2 months including all the ward members.
Following the success in the first phase of implementation, the second phase was launched in August 2017. Around 43 ton of waste had been sent so far, out of which 6500 Kg of recyclable plastic and 36000 Kg were rejects. In the first phase, panchayath hadn’t paid any money. The agency used to took away the waste; only user fee was collected. It was in the second phase tat bags were distributed among the households/ shops for storing the waste. Rs.50 is collected from medium shops and Rs.100 is collected from big shops as user fee in weekly basis. Rs.20 is collected from households as user fee in monthly basis.
Haritha Karma sena is a professional team consisting of Green Technicians and Green Supervisors mainly Kudumbashree Women who will be assigned with the responsibility of collection, transportation, processing, recycling / disposal, and management of waste materials in association with respective LSGs and Suchithwa Mission. Green Technicians are trained man power recruited to provide technical services and solutions on waste management projects. One Green Technician has to visit 250 households in a ward. In one Ward two Green Technicians will be positioned and one supervisor for managing 15 Wards. The Collection of user fee will be the responsibility of Green Supervisor. Haritha Sahaya Sthapanams the accredited agencies of Haritha Kerala Mission which will provide technical assistance to the Haritha Karma Sena.
There are 15 wards in Karulayi, with an area of 135 Sq.kilometres. The Population of Karulayi is around 26000 with around 6000 families. The programme have a huge relevance that such an initiative had altered the attitude of the people in and around Karulayi that they think twice before throwing a plastic cover away. In fact, the inhabitants of Karulayi has minimised the usage of using plastic and a better civic sense had been evolved among the people regarding the usage of plastic and other waste. Knowing the success story of Karulayi Panchayath in waste management, many other panchayaths have consulted them to study the Karulayi model of waste management. Harithakarmasena of Karulayi is committed to bring about a positive change in the sector of waste management. Envisioning a healthier, clean and green world that complements a human generation living in harmony with nature.
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