On January 31st 2015, the Koramangala 3rd block composting facility will complete two years of operations. In these twenty four months, the facility has converted over 150 tons of street leaf litter to excellent quality compost.
“Kora3B compost” as the produce is now popularly known, has become the credible high quality brand among Bengaluru’s gardening community.
“The journey so far has been an interesting learning experience as we continuously worked to improve our processing facility”, says Anil Chinniah, resident of the block and former Secretary of Koramangala 3rd Block Residents’ Welfare Association.
To ensure the high quality of the compost, extra care is taken to remove all plastic and paper from the leaf litter using a rotary sieve. A cowdung slurry is added repeatedly during the composting period of 12-14 weeks. This cowdung both enriches the quality of the compost and speeds the decomposition process. To further enhance value, Honge (Pongemia) flowers along with Neem leaves are added.
The Honge flowers which are small, Whitish Pink are sweet smelling and a rich source of Nitrogen. “To validate what we were confident of, we tested our compost and it has been approved for its quality at the agricultural university in Hebbal”, says another resident Ajai T S.
Finally, the proof of the pudding is in the eating! In our case, the outstanding quality of Kora3B compost is evident by the beautiful flowers in 12th Main 3rd block park which uses Kora3B compost extensively. The compost has been very popular both with large commercial establishments as well as with individual residents. Indo American Hybrid Seeds, one of the larger nurseries in the city have been buying the Kora3b compost throughout these two years.
“In the month of December alone, over 80 individual customers from all corners of the city and beyond bought Kora3B compost, as we marketed over 14 tons of compost. All revenue from sale of our compost is used to pay for the operational cost of the facility so as not to burden the RWA in any way”, says Anil Chinniah. “As we interact with the agricultural/gardening community, we understand that good compost is popularly known as ‘black gold’ and with good reason. Quality compost is not easily available in the city. This is sad and ironic given the amount of leaf litter that the city generates”, he adds.
In most parts of the city, this leaf litter is mixed with the regular waste and carried long distances outside the city, or is burnt wherever possible.
In any case, what can be an asset is either adding to Bengaluru’s high levels of pollution or is a financial liability to the cities already overburdened exchequer. What this composting facility has achieved is to transform what was a pollution problem for the city into a much needed asset for the community.
“We thank the authorities and the RWA for having initiated this facility. Hopefully Bengaluru will see more composting and less burning of leaf litter in the years ahead”, he adds.
To buy Kora 3B ‘Black Gold’, please contact Mr Jayachandra Reddy at: 07022358470
