

Pune: Mumbai is next on the Poonawalla group's list in its clean cities' initiative.

Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of Serum Institute of India, has already promised Rs 100 crore to clean Pune.

He told TOI that after two years, he wants to move his green initiative to the state's capital. He was speaking at the launch of Adar Poonawalla Clean City Movement in collaboration with Pune Municipal Corporation on Thursday.

"For now, we will build hundreds of toilets for men and women in Mumbai which will be maintained by a housekeeping agency. After two years, we will move our clean city initiative to Mumbai. We have already started meeting Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation authorities. Like Pune, we may earmark another Rs 100 crore to make Mumbai among the cleanest cities in India," he said.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis launched the public-private partnership initiative for waste management in Pune on Thursday. The initiative is perhaps the first in the country for a private company to spend such funds on public waste management system.

Fadnavis said solutions to waste management need corporates' help and the Poonawalla group's clean city initiative can be replicated across the country.

"The initiative is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. It is not about corporate social responsibilities, but about giving back to society which is inspiring," Fadnavis added.

On the decentralization of solid-waste management on which Poonawalla's green initiative is based, Fadnavis said, "If we want to make our cities sustainable, sanitation is the key. If we have decentralized units to take care of waste, it not only brings down the cost, but also works effectively. We want to scale it up with the initiative."

Phase one of the initiative will be rolled out in the three wards of Ghole Road, Dhole Patil Road and Salisbury Park, and later to cover the other wards in a phased manner.

Poonawalla said people wanted to do something about trash on the road. "We have tried to develop a self-sustaining model. It will cover cleaning of 300km roads across the municipal limits in a phased manner. I have planned and budgeted Rs 100 crore in my personal capacity to turn things around in Pune city. We want citizens to drive this movement through active participation. It can start with segregation at source and disposal only in waste bins," he added.

Municipal commissioner Kunal Kumar said sensitizing people about segregation of waste at source is important. Comprehensive awareness campaigns across the city is of utmost importance to make Pune clean, he added.

The focus is on supporting the civic body with infrastructure and management of solid waste, organic waste management, Nuriel Pezarkar said. He is the founder-chief executive officer of Nobel Exchange Environment Solution, the waste management firm working for the initiative.

Plan For Pune

*Providing infrastructure and related support to PMC for better and scientific management of waste

* Waste/litter bins every 100-200m on both sides covering commercial and busy roads in Pune

* 30km roads covered in phase I; 300km roads over 24 months

* Support infrastructure for clearance of bins when full. Garbage clearance vehicles will clear bins and deposit garbage at transfer stations located in wards

* SmartApp for citizens to report overflowing bins, clearance in stipulated time

* On-site food waste processing vehicles that will support clearance from commercial streets and establishments by processing waste closest to the site of generation

* Zero cost (no capital cost or operational cost) to PMC, zero land requirements and zero power requirements

Thumbs Up For

* First-of-its kind mobile food waste processing vehicle

* Large capacity food waste segregation-cum-crushing facility in Baner to process over 300 tonne per day food waste delivered by PMC into slurry and transport it using drip free, odour free tankers to processing plant in Talegaon

* In phase II, similar segregation-cum-crushing facility to be set up at PMC transfer stations so that food waste doesn't travel long distances in open trucks or vehicles. Dramatically reduce transportation and handling costs for PMC

* Activation and communication programmes targeted to generate citizen awareness, participation and attitude change for responsible behaviour towards waste management

Domino Effect

* At current estimates, over 1,700 tonnes of waste is generated in the city of which 52-55% is wet waste

* When wet food waste is segregated at source, inorganic waste like plastic, metal, paper and rags can be scientifically processed and effectively recycled

* This will ensure minimization of landfill and free up urban land for productive purposes

* Organic food waste when disposed of unscientifically creates social, environmental and health hazards



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