Mangaluru: The Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) organised a workshop on “Next Generation Waste Solutions”, at the KCCI Meeting Hall Bunder, here on January 30.
The dignitaries inaugurated the programme by lighting the traditional lamp. The Secretary of KCCI Jeevan Saldanha introduced the speakers to the gathering.
Mayor Mahabala Marla addressing the gathering said that any work should be done with foresight. “Many countries like Australia and Israel have undertaken projects efficiently and ecologically manage waste, harvest rainwater, etc. Such projects are not possible without public cooperation.”
Eli Cohen, Israeli Environment expert, gave a presentation on Sustainable Systems. He has founded and manages Ayala Water and Ecology, a company based in Moshav Tsipori that uses aquatic plants to clean polluted water, air and soil, in a natural way. During his presentation, he said that rapid development along with the continuous introduction of numerous manmade contaminants have caused continuous destruction of natural habitats and ecosystems, leading to unstable localized environments that cannot recover on their own, eventually adding up to have a global effect. Around the world, governments are raising the standards for discharging and allowing re-use of treated wastewater for new as well as existing facilities. Conventional wastewater treatment technologies, like activated sludge and desalination, offer partial solutions for both water shortage and pollution. However, in the short run as well as the long run, these methods damage the environment: the end products either still contain various levels of hazardous pollutants such as hormones and pharmaceuticals (activated sludge systems) or lack essential macro and micro elements (desalination). In both cases the damage to the soil and living organisms is not yet fully predicted or understood. In addition, these energy consuming technologies also contribute to global warming and create by-products such as used membranes and sludge. These require expensive manpower for maintenance, are hazardous, and lower the value of local real estate due to the poor esthetics and odor from the facilities.
He further said that in nature, biological systems exist and evolve as needed in order to maintain the balance between neighboring ecological systems. A sustainable system is a powerful living organism that can withstand extreme fluctuation and last for many years. Natural Biological Systems (NBS) are a practical, on-site method to implement this concept for simultaneous purification of soil, water and air.
Images and results of many such projects undertaken by AYALA around the world were shown during the presentation which included the Neot Smadar lake rehabilitation, on site sustainable solutions to the sewage treatment of Hyderabad and Bangaluru.
Mark Garrett presented the concept of Permaculture. Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature. Garrett explained the principles involved behind Permaculture and how everyday waste, ranging from metals and plastics to cardboard, glass and wood, can be put to good use. Permaculture can be used to develop a sustainable architecture, regenerative and self-maintained habitat and agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. It works on three core tenets, namely, care for the earth, care for the people and return the surplus. He also briefed on the restoration project on the Kagal Beach undertaken by the Panchabhuta Conservation Foundation.
Mayor Mahabala Marla, Rammohan Pai Maroor (Vice President, KCCI), Jeevan Saldanha (Secretary, KCCI) and M Ganesh Bhat (Treasurer, KCCI) were present on the dais.
