VISUALS VOICE OVER - Introduction

Waste is a problem but only when it is not managed.

Plastics are the largest, most harmful and most persistent fraction of
marine litter, accounting for at least 85 per cent of total marine waste.

But how does waste get into the ocean?

Intro shot can It starts with a simple action of throwing me; an empty packet of chips,
be the out after you have eaten all my chips.
journey of a
waste item I end up on the side of the road, kicked around, swept around till I slip
(go-pro) from into a drain.
the hands to
the ocean. When the rain comes, I gets washed down along with water, floating
along till I reach a bigger drain, followed by an even bigger drain and
finally into the river.

From here I travel the river, meeting more friends and family along the
way. I even wave to you as I swim past while you throw more of my
brethren into the river to join me in my journey.

Together we enter the ocean, swimming with the fishes under the sun.

This journey of waste starts on land and ends in the ocean where they
threatens ocean health, the health of marine species, food safety and
quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate
change.

Waste also can also have a negative impact on places look on tourism as a
source of income. Waste damages the aesthetic value of tourist
destinations, leading to decreased income from tourism. It also generates
major economic costs related to the cleaning and maintenance of the
sites. The build-up of plastic litter on beaches can have a negative impact
on a country’s economy, wildlife, and the physical and psychological
wellbeing of people.

This is especially true in Alappuzha, which was given the title by Lord
Curzon (British Viceroy) ‘Venice of the East’. But looking this beautiful
sea-side city, you would probably think that Venice should be called
‘Alappuzha of the West’

Aerial/ The silvery waves of the Arabian Sea sweep the western side of the town,
Establishing which is interconnected by a variety of canals, bridges, and backwaters.
shots of the The Vembanad lake, India’s longest lake and the largest in Kerala, is
city. proximal to the town and suited for boating.
Three prominent rivers in south Kerala, namely Achankovil, Pamba, and
Manimala flow into the lakes.

The annual water carnival at Punnamada Lake is regarded as the world’s

largest snake boat racing festival and is one many boat races that happen
every year. The colorful boat spectacle, which precedes the boat race is a
sight to behold.
The Ambalappuzha Sreekrishna Temple and the St. Sebastian's church,
attracts a lot of tourists and the floating population, leading to high solid
waste generation in the district’s capital.

Alappuzha faces similar problems like other tourist destinations. Seasonal

explosion in tourists put incredible strain on local waste management
systems, causing landfills and sewage plants to overflow.

And without an effective system Alappuzha might end up being drowned

in waste!

If we go back till 2012, this was exactly what was happening.

The municipality has been dumping waste for decades in a six-hectare
plot it own in Sargodayapuram, a village located in the nearby
Mararikkulam village panchayat. Decades ago, this plot used to be a night
soil dumping yard for Alappuzha town.

In June 2012, the residents of Sarvodayapuram rose up in arms against

waste dumping in their backyard. There were continuous protests,
hunger strikes and blockade of the road leading to the plant preventing
the municipality’s trucks from entering the area. The protests lasted for
100 days following which the waste started piling up in the city leading to
Alappuzha looking like a vast waste dump. Garbage had piled up on
roadsides, and canals and drains were clogged with bags of stinking waste
from hotels, markets and meat shops were a common sight.

That’s when the government under Mr. Thomas Isaac (Ex Finance
Minister of Kerala) and the citizens stepped up and decided to clean up
their home and their city under the Nirmala Bhavanam Nirmala Nagaram
(‘CLEAN HOMES CLEAN CITY’) program.

Stakeholders The effective approach for project implementation is based on several

collective techniques such as political will, people's active engagement,
and the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in behavior
change communication activities.

The primary public stakeholders in this initiative include resident welfare

associations, schools, elected members, the Karitha Karma Sena (Green
Warriors), and the general public. The stakeholders, from the
 government, include the Suchitwa Mission for technical assistance and
infrastructure finance, CKCL for non-biodegradable waste management,
and Karitha Keralam for organic waste management. Additionally, NGOs
such as YMCA, SSP, Green Warms are involved in the implementation and
success of MSWM in Alappuzha.

“Segregation of waste at source” is now encoded in the Alappuzha’s DNA

Under the Nirmala Bhavanam Nirmala Nagaram model, waste generated

in a locality is treated in the locality itself, avoiding logistical issues
involved in bulk garbage collection.

There is no door-to-door collection of wet waste, instead the plan

enables each household to go green and treat domestic biodegradable
waste in their own backyard or ward level composting units.
Also, residents can bring segregated waste to the decentralized units will
have it accepted for processing. Collection time is fixed at 6-12 in the
morning and 6-10 in the evening.

To promote and encourage home composting, 7700 portable indoor

composter (Bio Bin) costing approximately Rs.1800, have been
ORGANIC distributed to the household that segregates waste at the source and is
WASTE interested in composting.

Commercial wet waste is collected is scientifically handled by the

"Thumbormozhi" (Aerobic) composting method. To facilitate this
decentralized model 452 composting units have been created in 36
decentralized areas dispersed within a one-kilometer radius.

The model was developed in the Thumburmuzhi campus of Kerala

Veterinary and Animal Science University to compost to carcasses of
animals (hence its name). The breakthrough came in the form of a
technological innovation by Francis Xavier, a Kerala Veterinary University
professor.

The model consists of a tank of 4x4x4 feet size made of ferro-cement or

bricks.
It is designed in such a way that air enters into the tank through the gaps
on the sides.
About 2 tons of waste can be processed into compost in 90 days in this
tank.
An inoculums developed from cow dung by the Kerala Agriculture
University is also used.
The construction cost of each tank is around Rs.10,000. A unit with two
tanks, roof, side walls and water facilities costs about R.1-15 lakh.
 Compost is then sold to farmers free of cost.

The ULB has reached an agreement with a private agency to collect meat
waste from chicken, mutton, and fish stores. As user fees, the agency
might charge the seller Rs.4 per kg. The gathered fish waste is then
processed into poultry feed and other meat waste is used in piggery
units.

Dry Waste The Haritha Karma Sena collects all segregated dry waste once in 15 days
from the residents.

All the collected dry wastes are further segregated by Karitha Karma
Senas in Eleven mini MCFs. Subsequently, to be transported to Resource
Recovery units for further storage.

Further processing of dry waste happens at the Material Recovery Facility

with basic machines such as baler and shredder before being sent to
recycling facilities.

Bio Medical The hospitals and clinics are linked with IMAGE
waste (Indian Medical Association Goes Ecofriendly), a common biomedical
waste treatment and disposal facility established in 2003 by IMA’s Kerala
chapter at Palakkad. The hospitals in Alappuzha send their biomedical
waste to this facility. Some of the hospitals have their own arrangement
like biogas plants for managing their food waste.

The informal workers migrated from Tamil Nadu collecting recyclable

waste for their livelihood

Women empowerment case study,

A stable salary of Rs.10,000/- from Ayankalai Urban minimum wages
scheme for Kundumba Shree and Karitha Karma Sena members.
This is combined with incentives and LIC pension scheme.

Public Awareness activities and citizen involvement has played a central role.
Involvement
- Inauguration & plastic ban awareness class at Chunakkara GVHSS
Alappuzha by Dist.Pt.Member Viswanadh Padanilam
- School activities like ecofriendly-waste-bin made by kalarcode UP
school Alappuzha
- Clean campus green campus training for NSS Program officers.

Enforcement The Municipality has formed night squads of sanitation workers. If any
resident is caught throwing waste, she or he is fined Rs.2500. If waste is
dumped into a canal or a water body, fine may go up to rs.20000 under
 the
340 B Section of the MSW Rules for contaminating and polluting water
sources. For shops and hotels, a closure notice may also be served.

The effective enforcement coupled with effective IEC and awareness

activities have helped create an efficient model in the city

Issues The seasonal increase in plastic waste, especially MLPs due to tourist or
floating population is a major issue.
In some places littering continues to be a problem.
Open burning of waste is still seen sporadically.

In Alappuzha, the next major step was to address the problem of liquid
waste and sewage management. Currently, untreated water and sewage
flows into the canal system, contributing to the uncontrolled growth of
weeds.
Canalpy, the canal rejuvenation project, has become a people’s
movement that involves all major technical institutions in Alappuzha.

Awards The MSWM system developed by ULB has been recognized by the SPCB
award continuously, for the years 2013 to 2019.

The swatch survekshiyan 2020 award is in the category of innovation.

The DEWATS system received the SS-2020 award for innovation

Kerala government’s energy conservation awards for 2013- 14.

Alappuzha’s experiments with decentralized waste management have

inspired some other urban local bodies in the state. The
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has started setting up biogas plants
and pipe composts along the same lines.