Meeting with the Settlement officer Mr. Palden and project officer Chonyi Dolma- SWM in Mundgod

 The Solid waste management comes under the DoHome(Central Tibetan Administration). 

Solid waste management in Mundgod Tibetan Settlement

Solid Waste Management

-        We had a discussion with the settlement officer on solid waste management, their future plans and sustainability of the project as this project funded by IM will phase out from 2012.  Mr Palden shared with us the situation in the settlement regarding community’s attitude, positive attitude of the govt.’s employee toward the SWM intervention, support from the local people etc.

-        The District commissioner of Karwar is very supportive of the SWM intervention in the settlement and has encouraged others to follow suit. Especially the sign board by the road side in the settlement such as “save tress”, “No to Plastic” and many more on the SWM theme caught his attention the most.
     He is an environmentalist and has asked them to root out the shrub- Parthenium plant- which is in abundance in the settlement- as it causes great harm not only to the human being but also to the environment. It causes asthma and cancer. It has now been almost wiped out completely in the settlement. 

Parthenium 

 -        (The pollen grains of Parthenium Hysterophorus, or congress grass or carrot grass in common parlance, cause several diseases like eczema, asthma and dermatitis, a senior scientist of the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar, Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra, said. "It is a poisonous, allergic and aggressive weed whose pollens float in air and cause eczema,asthma, dermatitis, hay fever (kalazar) etc in human beings," Mishra said.)

-        The District Commissioner also gave 30,000 plant i.e Pongamia Pinnata for making boi-diesel. If you sell the seed, it costs about Rs. 8/kg. I looked for more information on the net and it amazed me. More information on this below:-

Pongamia Pinnata

-  (What is Pongamia Pinnata? 

    It is a deciduous tree that grows to about 15-25 meters in height with a large canopy that spreads equally wide. The leaves are a soft, shiny burgundy in early summer and mature to a glossy, deep green as the season progresses. Small clusters of white, purple, and pink flowers blossom on their branches throughout the year, maturing into brown seed pods. The tree is well suited to intense heat and sunlight and its dense network of lateral roots and its thick, long taproot make it drought tolerant. The dense shade it provides slows the evaporation of surface water and its root structures promote nitrogen fixation, which moves nutrients from the air into the soil. Withstanding temperatures slightly below 0°C to 50°C and a minimum annual rainfall of 500 mm, the tree grows wild on sandy and rocky soils, including oolitic limestone, but will grow in most soil types, even with its roots in salt water. 

-         Pongamia Pinnata trees are normally planted along the highways, roads and canals to stop    soil erosion. Billions of trees exist all over India. If the seeds fallen along road side are collected, and oil is extracted at village level expellers, tousands of tons of oil will be available for Lighting the Lamps in rural area. It is the best oil for lighting. Since these are spread over a large area, collection of seeds for BioDiesel manufacture is not viable. (A compact plantation can support a BioDiesel plant). Seeds are 10-20 cm long, oblong, and light brown in color.)

-    The Mundgod Tibetan settlement is now switching over to organic farming as a result of intervention by DoHome under organic farming. Besides, the Karnataka Govt. has decided to move towards expanding organic farming in the state on a large scale.

-         When asked about the sustainability of the SWM project in the settlement without IM support, Mr. Palden said the community may not be ready to pay Rs.10 against Rs. 5 which is collected from each household at present. Mr. Kalsang thupten came out with a suggestion that it may be a good idea to collect the fees separately and not together with other expenses incurred by the community people such as water bill and other expenses.

-         Mr. Palden told us that there will be a meeting in October-November with all the camp leader and monastery to discuss on this issues. Besides, there is a new intervention called Revitalization of Tibetan settlement by the US Govt..one of its objective being employment generation in the community. They are hopeful that they will be able to use this fund in the SWM project and to make it more sustainable.

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade Coordinator