The Cleanest City in INDIA Civic body shows the way ALLAPUNZA The Cleanest City in INDIA Civic body shows the way Presented by: Apurva Govil(BT14CME011) Ayushi Agrawal(BT14CME018) MrunmayeeShamkuwar(BT14CME051)

About the city  Alappuzha is a municipality in Kerala with an urban population of 174,164.  The Backwaters of Alappuzha are the most popular tourist attraction in Kerala. Alappuzha is globally famous for snake boat races,  Nehru Trophy Boat Race held in the Punnamada Lake near Alappuzha.                                                   BUT Alappuzha became notorious as one of the most unclean towns in Kerala, seriously jeopardising its future as a tourism centre.

What was the NEED for Change?  In monsoon of 2012, the transport of solid waste from the town to its central processing plant in the neighbouring panchayat was disrupted.  Though called a processing plant, it was really a dumping yard,an environmental hazard.  The local population rightfully protested and blocked the movement of waste.  The streets of the town were littered with garbage.

Early Steps Reducing waste movement from 50 tonnes a day to five tonnes.  The municipality pursued an aggressive policy of landfilling within the town.  The human excreta dumping yard in Sarvodayapuram was used for other solid waste from the town.  The human excreta depot shifted to latrines within the town itself.

If human waste could be processed at our own houses, why couldn’t we manage kitchen waste? The idea of  ‘Nirmala Bhavanam, Nirmala Gagaram (Clean Home, Clean City)’ began thus.

STEPS TAKEN WATSAN PARK Sites were cleared and the sheds housing the bins decorated with plants and murals.  The artists of Kochi Biennale lent their support to the setting up of the largest community compost centre, WATSAN Park.  Visitors and curious onlookers are amazed that there is no smell. The place truly has been converted into a park.

BIOGAS PLANT and PIPELINE SYSTEM In November 2012, one of the 52 wards in the municipality was selected for implementing a pilot scheme.  Biogas plants, both portable and fixed, were installed in households.  Within a month, the scheme was rolled out in 11 more wards The fixed biogas plant costs Rs 17,500 and can treat 8-10 kg of waste per day. The plant provides biogas for two–three hours daily.  The portable biogas plant has a capacity of 1,000 litres and costs Rs 13,500. In this plant, 5–7.5 kg waste can be converted into compost and the biogas is available for 80-90 minutes. Those who could not go in for biogas plants were told to opt for pipe composting, which was cost-effective and easy, involving two pipes lowered into a pit where waste would gather and get treated.

Aerobic Compositing Unit Aerobic composting units were then set up in various parts of the city, in places where people would dump their waste for collection by the municipality.  These were meant for biodegradable waste and for commercial establishments, hotels and households that had not gone in for biogas plants.  Each unit, comprising two bins, processed 2,000 kg of waste and converted it into fertiliser within 90 days.

Student's Involvement Students were told to gather plastic waste at home and bring it in.  One kg of plastic waste fetched them a book coupon worth Rs 20 from school.  Municipal workers collected the plastic later from school for recycling.

With 2,500 biogas plants, 4,000 pipe composting units and 75 aerobic bin units, Alappuzha is waiting to declare itself garbage free!