Apartment society in Dwarka addresses ‘green concerns’

New Delhi: The Brahma apartment society in Dwarka has set up an environment friendly forest within its boundaries, emplaced a machine that gobbles up all the organic waste and has fixed a place where all the used up plastic goes, only to be recycled later —making it a “model society” to combat environment pollution. The society has won several awards, most from SDMC for sustainable cleanliness.
The important part of the society is a small forest in a corner, which has multiple plants of many species sown privately by the residents with the help of an NGO. The plants are arranged closely, planted three to four trees per squire meter representing “miyawaki technique”. The “miyawaki forest” grows in two to three years and helps lower temperatures, attract local birds and insects, reduce air and noise pollution, and create carbon sinks. The miyawaki technique of afforestation is based on the works of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki and responds to the urban environmental needs, by setting up a forest in small plots of land. In a place like Delhi, which is closely knit by buildings and reduced patches of lands, the technique is useful as it produces more oxygen and creates several times denser forest.
Munish, who works in the society and overseas all the environment related matters in the society, said, “While preparing the site of the forest, we had to dig soil one meter deep and then mix three items to it, rice husk which is necessary for water retention, coco peat to increase aeration and manure to enrich the soil.”
The Sunday Guardian visited the 800 sq feet forest of the society and found shrubs, trees and canopies growing together at a distance of one feet between the plants. While entering the forest, a single small tree is encircled and safeguarded with the plastic bottles that are filled with used up plastic trash which Munish says are eco bricks, “We make the bricks in the society by collecting the bottles and invite the residents to participate in the making of it.” Recently, Munish has made a chair and a table from the bottles. The chair stands in the garden outside the forest on which the residents sit often.
The society also has installed a compost machine through which all the kitchen waste goes, “After the waste goes through machine, we collect it and then later use it in the forest and wherever the soil needs nutrients,” said Munish. Harsh, a resident in the society said, “Munish is active in all the environmental activities and also makes our kids participate in plantation, involves them in keeping the society clean and also educates them about the demerits of polythene liter and benefits of recycling.”
Another resident in the society said that he doesn’t get time to participate in any environmental activity but, he added: “I am very happy with the environment I am getting to live in, I always accept what I am being told to follow regarding where to send what kind of trash, everybody follows it, and it just helps us in return, we get peace when we enter the society.” Munish has made sure that everything that can help or destroy environment should be regulated under him. Interestingly, he has set up a separate dust bin in which the residents of the society throw electronic waste. A parent said, “Whenever my kids have any electronic waste, they make sure that the waste goes in that bin.” “We collect the electronic waste and then we send it for recycling,” Munish said.