Thiruvananthapuram: Kitchen bins drain out' many

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A standard instruction which every kitchen bin user gets when installing it is to drain the liquid off various curry dishes. But when the average Malayali meal is incomplete without ‘something to pour’ — be it sambar, rasam, buttermilk or fish curry — one cannot help wonder if kitchen bin is the best solution for Kerala. DC talked to a few experts in the field on the issue. . Composting is ideal for Kerala, according to Nirm-ala Ananthapadmana-bhan, HoD, Economics Department, St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam. Some years ago, she had conducted a ‘waste audit’ project, in which she ascertained the amount of organic and inorganic waste produced by a few panchayats in the state. 

The audit was conducted because she believed that governments should devise waste management policies only after ascertaining the kind of waste produced.  “If there is a lot of garden waste, like say tree leaves, vermicompost could be the solution. Bio-pots (similar to kitchen bins) could be used, or compost could be made without innoculum. But no matter whichever solution is chosen, people should get some handholding until they can manage it on their own,” says Nirmala. 

Pratibha Ganeshan, a researcher in solid and liquid waste management, is of the same opinion — the government should ensure that the system it introduces is monitored well. On her field visits, people have complained about how authorities would not monitor their source-level waste management systems.  “Even in Alappuzha, there was discontent among people,” she says.  People themselves have created sieves to drain the gravy or sauce from their food before it is put in the bin, according to her. 

“Rather than thinking about the ideal waste management technology, the government should ensure a proper monitoring system,” she says. Thiruvananthapuram corporation officials say that the kitchen bin project was proposed this year seeing how successful it was in the houses which started using it in the first phase.  “The technology is simpler than other available ones and is more suited for liquid waste. The coir pith can absorb water.  The people should not  overdo it and that is why they are asked to drain the liquid from the food,” says an official.