DNA/PUNE/14th Mar. ‘09: The Ghole Road ward office of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has set a fuel-saving example. A bio-gas plant, which runs on the waste collected from hotels and restaurants located on the Fergusson College (FC) and Jungli Maharaj (JM) roads, has been set up on its premises.

The biogas plant is used by the employees of the ward office to make tea that is served to the staff and visitors. Initiated by the ward medical officer Dr Sanjeev Wavare, the biogas plant also helps the staff save money. “We no longer pay for chai. Instead we make it here,” said a ward official.

Wavare said the biogas plant can treat 15 kg of waste everyday. “The staff of the ward office collects the waste (left over food, vegetables) from the hotels and restaurants and then puts it straightaway in the funnel of the plant,” he said. An equal quantity of water is then added to the waste. “The output of 15 kg of waste is around 250 gm of biogas, which is sufficient for a family of five to prepare tea, breakfast and lunch,” said Wavare.

There are around 275 hotels and restaurants located on the FC and JM roads. “These hotels generate around 16 tonnes of waste every day,” he said, adding that the ward office has now been propagating others to set up biogas plants and use this waste to generate gas. “This initiative at the ward office was aimed at treating the waste at source,” he said.

On a daily basis, the ward office collects around 80 to 90 kg of hotel waste and with addition of vermiculture to the waste, manure is produced in eight days.  The design and specification of the biogas plant has been approved by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. “This is a small plant and the cost is just around Rs15,000,” he said.

After this successful venture, the ward office has also suggested the idea to city colleges. According to Wavare, the Shri Shivaji Preparatory Military School (SSPMS) has already set up a biogas plant with the help of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The cost of the one tonne capacity biogas plant is between Rs9 to Rs10 lakh, he said.

Similarly, the Symbiosis Institute on Senapati Bapat Road and Symbiosis Institute of Management at Vimannagar have set up biogas plants of one tonne each. The Dina Institute in Model Colony has set up a 50 kg biogas plant. “These institutes have large campuses and along with canteen/hotel wastes, they also generate biodegradable waste such as leaves and other waste material. This can produce quality manure,” he said.

A bio-gas plant of one tonne capacity can produce gas equivalent to nearly five domestic cylinders in a day. According to Wavare, there are around 37 biogas plants in the city.

TOI/PUNE/12th Mar. ’09: For 37-year-old Leena Karia, organic food is an indispensable part of her daily diet. She has been on organic foods for the past five years and thinks there’s a definite difference between organic and inorganic vegetables. “Vegetables definitely taste and feel more fresh,” she says. “However, you can’t really tell the difference in other stuff, including foodgrains, pulses and spices. I buy organic because I know it is good for my family,” she explains.

With many stores in the city now opting to stock only healthy and organic food, there’s much more choice in terms of both food and drink for the customer. What’s on offer include foodgrains like brown rice, pulses like rajma, sunflower seeds, alfalafa seeds, palm jaggery, tofu, pumpkin seeds, soya snacks, organic spices like aniseed, asafoetida, black pepper, cardamom and drinks like soya milk, amla juice, karela (bitter gourd) juice, aloe vera juice and triphala (three fruits) juice.

Neeta Baqaya opened her health and organic food store in Koregaon Park in 1999, but it’s only now that people are becoming aware of organic food, she says. “While we do have many foreigners among our customers, we have an equally large number of Indian customers who have decided to opt for a healthier way of eating,” she says. Some of her customers, she adds, are as young as 12 years old! “These young kids opt for low-fat snacks which are baked, aloe vera juice is also a big seller as are the different types of ayurvedic medicinal herbs like ashwagandha’ which are beneficial to health and help you deal with ailments.”

Rakeshh Chandra started his health and organic food store in November 2007. He says he too has noticed a change in peoples’ attitude. At first people were unaware about organic food he says, but today his regular customers try everything from organic flour to juices. “Aloe vera juice is a good detoxifier. It is also good for arthritis and joint pains depending on the quantity consumed. How many people know this?” he asks.

Not many people know the difference between organic food and natural food either, says Chandra. “Organic food has been grown without the use of any chemicals whatsoever, but the same cannot be said about natural food. Natural food is something that is not processed and also does not have preservatives, but on the other hand chemicals can or must have been used on the plant,” he explains.

Nutritional therapist Vijaya Sathe has been actively promoting organic food in the city for quite a while now. People deserve to know about it so that they can adopt a healthy way of eating, she says. “Organic food is balanced with all forms of nutrients, including proteins and minerals and that is thanks to the healthy way it is grown. Also, it is much more tasty since it does not have chemicals or pesticides. People are definitely more aware now and we keep conducting exhibitions and lectures on organic food to increase this awareness,” she says.

Sheetal Rajhans (35) makes it a point to buy organic foodgrains and pulses knowing that it is the only way her kids, who otherwise love junk food, will have something healthy and chemical-free. “We eat out once in while so that makes up our junk food quota! I do, however, make sure that my kids have organic food most of the time. No karela or amla juice for us but brown rice and tofu is a favourite,” she says.

Owner of an organic vegetable and fruit store in Koregaon Park, Eknath Karale, is part of a group of farmers that are involved in organic farming. “We started off in April last year and since then our customer base has increased steadily. We stock up on about 15 vegetables and six types of fruits of which okra, cauliflower, banana and sweetlime are amongst the most popular. People are definitely more aware of the advantages of organically grown vegetables and fruits than ever before,” Karale explains.

The aim behind the project was to demonstrate to citizens that garbage segregation can reap rich benefits. Besides, the ward office employees now have a garden where they can spend a few moments during their hectic day. The rooftop garden was inaugurated by MLA Girish Bapat on Thursday, who lauded the initiative and said that similar projects should be taken up at all ward offices. 

Ward officer Madhav Jagtap said the wet waste collected from some 100 households in the ward was used in the garden. “Wet waste was used as manure for the potted plants. Besides flowering and medicinal plants, we have also grown vegetables like pumpkin and bitter gourd,” Jagtap said. 

He added that the terrace garden will now be opened to the public to show them that they can grow their own plants using the wet waste generated at their homes. 

“We are planning to have 20-minute tours for citizens. They will be taken around the terrace garden and explained how it has been grown. We have put up informative boards about the medicinal plants,” Jagtap stated. “Ultimately, we want all the wet waste generated in the ward to be used within it for productive purposes such as this,” he added.

[source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Pune/Ward-office-uses-wet-waste-to-develop-garden/articleshow/4197852.cms]