Picture used for representative purpose only.
Residents of various societies in Vasundhara Enclave are set to be initiated into waste segregation.
The Energy and Resources Institute, or TERI, a research institute based in New Delhi that is known for its work in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable development, has approached the Joint Forum of Vasundhara Enclave Co-Operative Group Housing Societies about this.
Joint Forum, a representative body of 45 co-cooperative group housing societies in Vansundhara Enclave, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the NGO and has allotted three housing societies — Abhinav, Anekant and Triveni Apartments — for the first phase of this pilot project.
The NGO will reach out to these households with the aim to know residents’ level of awareness on the issue. It will also look into the lack of effort by the government in the direction. Residents will be taught the importance of waste segregation and how it can be done at home.
According to Shivani Wadehra, a member of TERI, the objective of the initiative is to understand factors that can encourage households to segregate waste at source. “We will inform them about dry and wet waste. The intervention entails provision of dustbins and brochures on waste segregation. During our research, we will investigate if incentives have a role in inducing households to segregate waste,” she added.
JP Sharma, secretary of Joint Forum, told City Spidey that the idea was to ensure waste segregation at source. Sharma said, “Since the NGO has come forward with a proposal, we decided to start the initiative with three societies.”
Anil Pandey, president of Joint Forum who is also an expert in environmental studies, asserted that as much as 50 per cent of the waste produced was fit for composting and about 30 per cent could be recycled. “Effective segregation at source, in transit and during disposal will mean only 20 per cent of the refuse is needed to be sent to the landfill. This means a cleaner city with fewer garbage collection centres and garbage trucks, and longer life for landfills,” he added.
