In a short film previewed here on Tuesday,
probably the first of its kind with a Pourakarmika as its hero, Bangalore Mahanagara
Palike will be seen appealing to citizens to segregate wastes, and help manage
the 3,000 tonne-a-day of solid waste generated efficiently and in an
eco-friendly manner.
The 11minute film, Nagara Nyrmalya has
Santhimmi, a Pourakarmika, essayed by writer-journalist Prathibha Nandakumar,
exhorting residents such as Ramesh and Vysali Kasaravalli to segregate their
solid waste, and join the recycle and reuse fellowship. G.S. Bhaskar of Grassroots
media has directed the short film.
The film is an interesting by-product of a project undertaken in
Basavangudi (Health ward 49B) two years ago by ESG. The ESG’s coordinator, Leo
Saldanha, undertook the solid waste management training initiative in
collaboration with the human health and well being division of the U.N Environment
Programme, as a pilot project. It was aimed at developing capacities of Pourakarmikas
of one health ward in BMP to evolve a sustainable strategy for management of
community-level Municipal solid waste.
As part of this programme, ESG undertook an evaluation of the working
conditions of the Pourakarmikas, and now the scope of the project has expanded
to become the basis of intervention in
“What a waste!” is a project of the Environment
Support Group, sponsored by the Indo Norwegian Environment, with cooperation
and assistance from the state forest ecology and environment department. This
flip chart lists simple ways to tackle what seems a huge problem, and for
Pourakarmikas, it is the medium through which they can establish a rapport with
the residents of the ward, which they have to keep clean.
The benefits of segregation, the flip chart informs, are many. As
Santhimmi says in the film, using machines to do this job is not possible, for
unlike man, they do cannot think or use their brains. Manure and recycled
paper, and hygienic disposal of medical and toxic wastes are the rewards of
simple measures like having separate bins for different kinds of waste.
And, both the film and the flip chart exhort Bangaloreans to ponder
this: BMP’s 11,300 Pourakarmikas and a few hundred vehicles have to clear and
transport over 3,000 tonnes of solid waste daily. And over 80 per cent of the
household waste can be recycled and reused. The segregated, non-reclaimable
waste goes to the compost development corporation for further biodegradation
and mass production of vermin compost, and dispatching other recyclable
material to the respective recycling units.
This is the lesson that Vyshali Kasarvalli, who is not particularly
bothered about segregating waste, and would rather enjoy a film featuring her
hero, Ramesh in it, learns, for Santhimmi is on TV, on behalf of the
Pourakarmikas, waging a reproachful finger at the viewers for throwing away the
pamphlets with hints on segregation.