Stigma on waste needs to stop

said, “With the festival, a lot of plastic kites and manja thread were found in the area. There are also many broken bottles.”

The Gandipet Welfare Association shifted the kite-flying from their area and also ensured that they put bins across the village.

The residents said that it is harder to get the educated on board as they claim that they are paying the Swachh Bharat tax.

Lavanya Meda, a resident, said, “We collect about `300 from each house in every gated community.

“This way, we ensure that the villagers in Gandipet do not have to pay a penny.”

The excess money is used for plantations across the village. The stigma around waste should end, said members of the Gandipet Welfare Association.

With `65,000, each gated community could have two barrels which can compost 3,000 kg wet waste.

Sangeeta Kulkarni said, “If waste is composed there is no issue of smell or unhygienic results. We have asked the collector to make it mandatory for gated communities to have an in-house compost pit.”

The welfare body ensured that waste which is not segregated, is not picked up, which led to a change.

Lavanya Meda said, “All you have to do is segregate the waste. When wet and dry waste is mixed, it becomes useless.”

The successful running of the unit has led to seven more villages showing interest in waste management.

The residents said that the Narsingi dumpyard is on its way to becoming another Jawhar dump yard.

There are heaps of garbage and harmful leachate, affecting the groundwater.