Media Release
Mangaluru, Oct 1: In a pioneering initiative Hasiru Dala and APD Foundation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ullal Nagara Sabha for setting up the district’s first Dry Waste Collection Centre (DWCC) in Ullal town. The MoU was signed by Rayappa, Commissioner of Ullal Nagara Sabha on Tuesday, 29th of September 2020. As per the terms of the MoU, Mohammed Nawazuddin, a waste sorter, is the identified as the ‘Operator’ and Hasiru Dala / APD Foundation are identified as the ‘Facilitators’ of the project.
As per the agreement, Ullal Nagara Sabha will provide the physical infrastructure for collection, processing and storage of recyclable dry waste. Hasiru Dala / APD Foundation will provide technical know-how and undertake training and monitoring of the venture. Sri Mohammed Nawazuddin and his team of two waste sorters will run the DWCC on a day to day basis. The DWCC will become functional from 2nd October 2020 and it will be situated at Ullal. The MoU will be valid for a period of three years, subject to renewal.
The concept of DWCC is being implemented for the first time in Dakshina Kannada district. Ullal generates over 18 tons of waste per day out of which about 4-5 tons is dry waste. The DWCC project has been developed by Hasiru Dala / APD Foundation after working with Ullal Nagara Sabha for over 10 months and understanding the current Solid Waste Management (SWM) at Ullal. The survey was done to determine the number of waste pickers in Ullal. Waste Picker identity cards were issued to them. These waste pickers will be operating the DWCC centre. The collected dry waste will be sent to the recyclers. The waste pickers and the operator will get their earnings from the revenue generated from the sale of recyclable waste. The surplus generated will be reinvested for expansion of the facility.
This project continues Hasiru Dala’s partnership with Mangalore based APD Foundation since the year 2019 to extend its expertise in people-centred approach to waste handling in the coastal region. “APD Foundation and Hasiru Dala are proud to partner with Ullal Nagara Sabha for implementing this innovative project which will enhance the quality of life for civil society while ensuring the betterment of the lives of waste pickers and environment-friendly disposal of waste,” said Abdullah A. Rehman, the founder and CEO of APD Foundation, “We are grateful to Sri Rayappa, commissioner of Ullal Nagara Sabha, the health inspectors and environmental engineer who have been very supportive in setting up DWCC.”
Vanishree B. R. represented Hasiru Dala / APD Foundation during the signing of MoU
The project is based on the model of DWCCs which are already functional in Bangalore since 2013-2014. There are about 166 functioning DWCCs (out of the sanctioned 198), one per ward, operating in a decentralized manner under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in collaboration with various citizen groups and NGOs.
The management and operation of these DWCCs have been handed over to various contractors and agencies to operate them on BBMP’s behalf. They perform necessary functions like collecting the dry waste, segregating them into categories like high/low-value recyclables, reject, e-waste etc and their forward dispatch to aggregators or recyclers or landfill.
Hasiru Dala presently manages 33 DWCCs in Bangalore and couple more in adjacent regions. Hasiru Dala was established in Bangalore by Nalini Shekar with the mission of bettering the lives of the waste-picker community. Using its long-standing grassroots experience of working with waste-picker-entrepreneurs, Hasiru Dala provides training, encouragement/support and operational help like dealing with necessary reporting, regulatory and financial paperwork required by BBMP.
Hasiru Dala has also developed unique software to keep track of the streams of incoming/outgoing waste in each DWCC, generate various reports required by BBMP or other collaborators (like UNDP) and also gain quantitative insights from this data.