Shillong July 9: The Urban Affairs department has started implementing waste management projects on a pilot basis by following the ‘unique waste management’ adopted by Alappuzha city in Kerala. Urban Affairs Minister, Hamletson Dohling said that after the visit to Alappuzha city, the department has now started implementing two compost plants on a pilot basis at Pohkseh and Lawjynriew in Shillong city.

Stating that the two pilot projects are of low cost, Dohling said that compost plants in Alappuzha city were very helpful and they have been set up in various localities with the cooperation of the people. He said that if implementation of the two pilot projects is successful, the same will be extended to other localities in the city. “If we can implement this model in many localities, the burden of the dumping ground at Mawlai Mawïong would be reduced,” he said.

A delegation led by Dohling along with minister in-charge public health engineering, Samlin Malngiang and former MLA of South Tura and present Lok Sabha MP from Tura, Agatha K. Sangma had visited Alappuzha city in April, 2018 to study the unique waste management model being implemented there, and how the Alappuzha model could be replicated in Meghalaya.

It was decided that implementation of waste management projects would start in Shillong city and Tura town by focusing on waste segregation as being done in Alappuzha city. Dohling said that in Alappuzha city, wastes were segregated between biodegradable and non-biodegradable. “Alappuzha has a decentralized plan that enabled every household to treat domestic biodegradable waste in their own backyards. We want to also decentralize waste management down to localities. If there is no cooperation from the people, we are facing a big problem from now on,” Dohling observed.

As per of the ambitious project, the Alappuzha Municipal Board had established 5000 kitchen bins, 3000 biogas plants, 2800 pipe composting units and 218 aerobic compositing units in Municipal areas by way of which, the town was able to take care 80 percent of its waste produced by a population of 1.74 lakh.

Alappuzha has the distinction and recognition for its successful and sustainable management of solid waste under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as one of the best across the world. The Centre for Science and Environment had rated Alappuzha in 2016 as the top cleanest town in India. Alappuzha is a city with an urban population of 1,74,164. The city is the third among districts in Kerala having highest literacy rate.