How green waste will keep city’s poor warm

New Delhi: In a unique community initiative, South Delhi Municipal Corporation has launched a project to provide free hot water to people living in JJ colonies during the winter season.

As part of a pilot project, the facility was launched on Sunday at Ambedkar Basti in RK Puram Sector 1. The horticulture department, which has been using hot water for its daily activities using the heat generated during composting of organic waste, will now use the same technique — albeit in a bigger scale — to help people who cannot afford geysers during winters.

According to SDMC’s horticulture department director Alok Kumar, methane gas generated during composting of shredded green waste is being used to heat the water. “The temperature of shredded waste increases as soon as we add cow slurry and chemicals to start the decomposition process. Malis have so far been using this mixture for roasting potatoes and boiling water in small containers after keeping them inside the shredded green waste overnight,” he explained.

“The idea grabbed our attention during our visit to Khel Gaon nursery last year. We decided to use this technique at a larger scale to help needy people during winters,” said an SDMC official. Considering the amount of green waste generated from the roadside and parks daily, the civic official said that a decision was taken to set up such plants at parks/nurseries located close to slum areas.

At a park near RK Puram, a plant has been set up for supplying 1,000 litres of hot water every day. “We have made a 15x18 feet iron mesh structure and filled it with two tonnes of shredded green waste. In the middle, we have kept five iron containers — each of 200 litre capacity — and covered them with green waste. Water pipes have been installed for inlet and outlet of water in these iron containers,” said Vishwendra, deputy commissioner, SDMC (South Zone).

Every night, corporation staff will fill these containers with water collected from nearby tubewells and leave it to simmer overnight for at least 10 hours. Ambedkar Basti councillor Tulsi Joshi has held meetings with locals and asked them to ensure that every one stands in queue to collect the hot water. The south corporation also plans to supply hot water to dhobi ghats in the area.

“We will set up such plant at other places as well. There is a plan to set up a similar plant at Ekta Camp, Kanak Durga Camp and the slum cluster near Vasant Kunj,” Vishwendra added.