Udupi: Belapu Grama Develops Waste Management System

By Snehalatha, Udupi
Bellevision Media Network

Belapu (Udupi district), 02 May 2012: The state government has long back instructed villages to implement the waste management system of the waste produced in the houses at the Grama Panchayath level itself and for this purpose rupees 4 lakhs has been allotted to each Grama. Also the government has taken in writing from the Grama Panchayath Presidents that this amount will be spent only for the cleanliness of the Grama.

 
Accordingly now all the Gramas should have been clean and beautiful. But in reality this instruction from the government has never been implemented at all. The reason is that, the government has given instruction but never specified how the waste management system is to be implemented and the Grama Panchayath Office Bearers also do not know how it is done either. Therefore even today the waste is being dumped into the road side, gutters and public places, which gets rotten and smells.

 

 
But there is a exception here. Though it is late, Belapu Grama Panchayath of Udupi Taluk has developed its own waste management system and now it is getting inaugurated. For the first time in the state this system is getting implemented in Belapu Grama, for which rupees 6 lakhs has been spent. It will also be the source of income in the future days. The person behind this is Belapu Grama Panchayath President Deviprasad Shetty.

 
So far the waste produced from about 800 houses, market – shop - hotels in this Grama was being collected and was buried in the jungle. This was commercially expensive and also there was no proper cooperation from the people for this.

 
The electrically run machine which has been developed now, can separate maximum 5 ton waste per day and sort it out. Plastics, metal and glass materials have to be manually separated, other home wastes will be cut into small one inch size pieces by this machine. This output can be directly sold to the usage of the lands of the farmers, can be auctioned or can be packed in bags as compost fertilizer and sold in market. The income earned from this can be spent for the cleanliness of the Grama, says Grama Panchayath President Deviprasad Shetty of Belapu Grama which has received awards in state – national level for the cleanliness.

 
This has been the hi-tech dream of the Techie’s! The Techie’s of Udupi district Nidhi Shetty Alevoor and Abhiman Shetty Kaup who are employed abroad and dream of the development of the villages of our country have designed these machines. The operation of this electrically run machine is simple and can be operated by a single person.

 
This technology has won in the national level competition ‘take care take charge’ and was also exhibited in the United Nation’s program which was participated by 8 nations and received appreciation. Now it is implemented for the first time in Belapu Grama, will be demonstrated before the Ministers – Officers by the Udupi Deputy commissioner in Bangalore Adalat. If this technology gets approved, then there is possibilities of recommending it to all the Grama’s of the state.

 
Belapu is a small Grama and the required 5 ton waste per day is not being produced here. But to the other Grama’s which produce more than 5 ton waste per day, this machine will be very useful. In this was Belapu Grama Panchayath is a role model to other Grama Panchayaths.