The Swachh Survekshan 2018 in the citizen participation category was bagged by T S Mahadevasamy of Shivamooga for his continuous and uplifting contribution to make the environment cleaner. Mahadevasamy is a retired rice mill manager that resides in VInobanagar 3rd Main. He was concerned about the high amount of wet waste that was being generated in the society. So in order to combat the mounting wet waste, he came up with the idea of converting the liquid waste into manure with use of a PVC pipe. He has been doing this for over two years and has been successful in converting the wet waste generated at his household into manure.
According to Mahadevasamy around one kilogram of kitchen waste can be easily converted into hundred grams of manure through his simple procedure. All it takes is a PVC pipe, cow dung, jaggery and water.
The procedure is quite simple. First, a PVC pipe has to be inserted almost 1.5 feet into the ground. If the PVC is 6 feet in length, it will be perfect for the procedure as it will be at a perfect height for the average adult. The second step is that a mixture of cow dung, water and jaggery has to be prepared. Around one kilogram of cow dung diluted with almost 15 litres of water has to be mixed with a kilogram of jaggery. Then the mixture has to be poured into the pipe. This results in a bacterial growth that is activated due to the mixture. The kitchen waste can be dumped daily from the following day onwards followed by a mug of water each week. This simple procedure helped Mahadevasamy create a simple and rewarding solution to combat the mounting amounts of wet waste in his household.
According to Mahadevasamy, the process of converting the wet waste into manure is time consuming one. It takes almost 8 months to a year to generate manure. But the result of it has been excellent. The manure from this procedure that he got lab tested has shown that it is rich in phosphorous, calcium and several other important nutrients. Other than that, to check whether the process is active or not, he has asked to poke a stick into the pipe every three months or so and check whether it’s wet or not. Wet means that the process is still active.
The success of this method has led him to achieve great strides in the cause for cleanliness. He has successfully established his infamous compost systems in the homes of reputable members of the society like the commissioner, corporation commissioner etc. Moreover, his simple yet effective solution has proved to be a boon to the society. This has made people realise how they can affectively combat the high amounts of waste that has been generated by the society.