On 18th December, 2019, Mumbai’s Godrej Baug (Malabar Hill), was awarded a certificate under the Swachh Bharat Mission, for its conscientious Waste Management efforts towards effectively reducing its waste by segregating and recycling it, in a ceremony held at the Baug itself, at 10:30 am. The certificate was awarded by Prashant Gaikwad, Assistant Commissioner, MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) to Team BPP represented by Shehnaaz Khambatta, Deputy CEO of BPP, alongside SWM (Solid Waste Management) officials including Rajendrasir Jagtap – Astt. Engineer, Narayan Pawar – Astt. Head Supervisior, Shyam Shinde – Supervisior, and Sunil Makwana – Overseer.
The culmination of this proud achievement started out as the brainchild of Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) Trustee, Kersi Randeria, who proposed and supervised the entire project, as Godrej Baug is one of the properties managed by the BPP. Over the past few weeks, Godrej Baug residents have been composting kitchen and floral waste while segregating recyclable material including paper, metal, glass and e-waste and handing it over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The way forward, as per Trustee Kersi Randeria, is to now apply for the Property Tax rebate that is awarded to Housing Complexes that reduce their waste. “As Parsis, we are known for our sense of worship and dedication to the forces of nature and the environment. The great success of this pilot project of Waste Management at Godrej Baug gives us much hope to carry out the same in other Baugs and housing complexes under the BPP. I urge our community members to join hands with us in this effort in reinforcing our stand as a progressive community committed to conserving the environment,” said Trustee Kersi Randeria, speaking to Parsi Times.
“In fact, I’m proud to share that we have had people from Raj Bhavan visiting us and they wish to replicate a similar model there. We should see that happen soon. We plan to repeat the success in other Baugs, once we have ironed out the wrinkles and further fine-tuned the process and its execution,” he added.
Praising the efforts and success of the Waste Management process in Godrej Baug, Prashant Gaikwad, Asst Commissioner, MCGM, told Parsi Times, “Godrej Baug has set a great precedent – it is truly commendable how they have successfully set up the plant. Hope others will follow in their footsteps soon. They have made constructive use of the space in the Baug.”
He further shared, “Accumulation of waste in the environment has adverse effects – it’s a health hazard, it spoils the landscape, causes various kinds of pollution, and damages terrestrial and aquatic life. As a Municipal Commissioner, we are trying to encourage society towards processing waste, in order to avoid the cost involved in transporting the waste to dump yards. This helps reduce pollution caused in treating huge quantities of waste which calls for great effort and creates lots of dust in the air. When we process the waste at the source, it automatically reduces pollution.”
Godrej Baug has installed Wet Waste and Dry Waste machines to process the waste. This helps reduce the cost of transporting huge waste quantities to the dumpyards. When societies segregate and process waste independently, they are eligible for a Property Tax waiver up to 7%. The BMC has cleared the proposal to provide Property Tax rebates to all residential, housing societies that segregate wet and dry waste, with further rebates provided to societies that process/dispose off their own dry waste to local recyclers and make compost of the wet waste, via these machines. The manure produced thereof, can be effectively used, saving the cost of purchasing manure, especially in Baugs which usually have gardens or even for the individual use of residents.
Under the guidance of Trustee Randeria, Godrej Baug has installed Wet Waste and Garden Waste Shredding machines, which are simple and effective – an economically feasible model which can be installed by any society by investing a small amount to undertake waste processing. In return, they save money on procuring manure, a necessity in most Baugs, as well as get reduction in Property Tax, which compensates for the cost of the Operational Maintenance. Godrej Baug has set a great precedent for other societies and housing complexes.
Speaking with Parsi Times, Shehnaaz Khambatta, Depute CEO, BPP, said, “We are truly proud of this achievement. It took a lot of hard work, time and patience but the end result has been spectacular. In fact, there are other societies who were asking for the manure, but with permission from the Trustees and their approval, we could sell it and use the proceeds for the welfare of the Community. A fabulous BPP initiative headed by Trustee Kersi Randeria – all the efforts have paid off! We are also grateful to Asst. Commissioner Gaikwad for his great support in helping us see this project to fruition.”
She further informed, “We collect approximately 90-110 kgs of wet waste from 500 houses in Godrej Baug daily, which generates 200 kgs of compost after 10 days. Three bins, with a capacity of 600 litres each, have been installed to process the waste. We plan to have a garden in Godrej Baug, wherein we could grow organic vegetables in the near future. Right now the project only caters to this colony, but we want to replicate the similar model in ten other colonies under the BPP.”
Earlier, in 2018, Trustee Kersi Randeria had proposed a waste segregating and composting unit for all Parsi colonies at Ambawadi (next to Doongerwadi, Malabar Hill) – the residence of Khandias (pall bearers), but could not be set up as some community members felt it inappropriate to set up a waste management plant there, as they considered Ambawadi as part of the sacred Doongerwadi. The automatic composting system was then set up for Godrej Baug in the Baug itself.
According to Bilal Baig, who is very actively involved in the waste management project at Godrej Baug, the segregation of waste is happening at multiple levels currently. They plan to reach out to private firms to collect the recyclable waste.
Kudos to BPP for spearheading a brilliant project – here’s looking forward to many more such successes in waste management and environmental conservation at other Parsi Baugs and residential complexes.
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