The Goa Garbage TimesPublished by the Goa Foundation • For private circulation only

Also published on the Internet at http://www.goacom.com/goafoundation/gtimes

Important Dates for Implementation of the MSWRules by Municipal Councils in Goa

No. Compliance Criteria Schedule

1. Setting up of waste processing By 31.12.2003and disposal facilities or earlier

2. Monitoring the performance of waste Once in 6 monthsprocessing and disposal facilities

3. Improvement of existing landfill sites By 31.12.2001as per provisions of these rules or earlier

4. Identification of landfill sites for future use By 31.12.2002and making site(s) ready for operation or earlier

Garbage: The Clock is Ticking

Goa Foundation Experiments in Vermicomposting

Earthworm-based garbage processingunits succeed in Goa

This newsletter on solid waste management in Goa is brought to you by the GoaFoundation, G-8, St. Britto’s Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa - 403507.Telephone: (0832) 263305, 256479email: oib@goatelecom.comPrinted at Maureen’s Offset, Rua da Ourem, Panaji, Goa.

The Goa Foundation is pleased to announce that its project for convertinggarbage into compost, using friendly earthworms, has produced satisfactoryresults. The project, which is assisted by the Department of Science, Technol-ogy and Environment, Government of Goa, was carried out at four differentsites, namely: Assagao, Mapusa, Parra and St. Inez. Vermicomposting unitswere constructed at each of these places and staff of the Foundation havebeen monitoring performance. The experiments have been successful.

Dhempe College Zoology students adopted the bins for their project workand submitted a detailed evaluation of their efficiency.

In March 2001, the Goa Foundation, along with Department of Science andTechnology, embarked on a project on helping village panchayats and mu-nicipal to implement garbage regulations in force in the State of Goa. Aftercirculating relevant information on garbage regulations in different panchayatsand municipal councils, the Foundation moved over to the second phase of itsproject, which was to work on practical designs for earthworms bins.

The designs of these bins and the selection of appropriate species of earth-worms were done in consultation with Patil Vermi farms from Gadag,Karnataka. They were constructed by local masons and the covers and roof-ing were fabricated in local garages.

The results of the earthworm experiments are now printed on pages 3-6 ofthis newspaper. (Pages 3-6 have been designed as an independent pulloutwhich can be used to instruct masons and any one else on how to constructsuch earthworm bins on their own. These pages are also available in Marathi).

However, the Goa Foundation staff is ever willing to assist Panchayats andCouncils which may want day to day supervision when these bins are beingconstructed.

The Goa Foundation will also arrange to supply earthworms at their mar-ket cost from reliable suppliers.

The best resource for vermicomposting is locally available organic mate-rial. A vegetable grower or a vendor can use rotting vegetables, a dairy farmercan use cattle dung, a farmer can use agrowaste, a person at home or at arestaurant can use kitchen waste and so on. The earthworms eat almost any-thing including jute sacks, cartons, paper, excreta, waste food, agriculturalwaste.

The Goa Foundation offers free advice on ways to install such vermicompostunits. Its staff will also monitor the condition and success of such bins for a fullyear. For this, please call Krishna Porob at the Goa Foundation phone num-ber: 256479 during office hours.

Municipal Councils in Goa are still not showing any great enthusiasmfor dealing with their increasing loads of garbage. Only the MunicipalCouncils of Panaji and Mormugao have schemes in operation which aredesigned to bring their garbage processing in line with the Municipal SolidWaste Rules, 2000 issued under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.Even these two Councils are still only able to process a small portion oftheir organic waste.

Panaji Municipal Council’s efforts to reduce its organic waste usingearthworms has received a setback after Mapusa Municipal Council be-gan adding around 12 truckloads of additional waste at Curca.

As the table given below indicates, all Municipal Councils by law aresupposed to have scientifically managed landfill sites before the end ofnext year (December 31, 2003).

All Municipal Councils are way behind in implementing improvementprogrammes for existing garbage sites. In fact, several existing sites likethose at Sonsoddo, Pilerne, Ponda etc. are being operated illegally be-cause waste dumping is going on at such sites in violation of existingregulations. Citizens living in such areas must take up the matter withtheir local Councils. If they don’t, no one can really help them and thesedumping sites are bound to develop into major nightmares.

Better technologies for processing garbage (wet wastes) are alreadyavailable. At the Goa Foundation (see story alongside), designs have beenperfected for the processing of solid wastes (including paper) with the useof specialised earthworms in specially designed brick bins made to lastforever and work permanently. These bins are quite low cost, and inaddition to tackling garbage, can also generate excellent compost whichcan be used liberally to improve the soil in existing municipal gardens.

The Goa Foundation will now experiment with designs for garbageprocessing using the Effective Microorganisms (EM) technology beingpropagated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Ela, Old Goa.

Unfortunately there is yet no technology available that will help stimu-late interest of local bodies in problems of waste management. Membersof local bodies continue to be convinced that the main reason for theirmembership of such bodies is to grant licenses and approvals for build-ings and gaddas.

It bears repeating that Municipal Councils were set up first for tacklingproblems of drainage, sanitation and garbage. These are their primaryduties. No Council may claim it cannot carry out these duties because ithas no funds. Councils that are incapable of dealing with adequate pro-cessing of garbage generated in their jurisdiction are better dissolved, asthe problem of managing garbage is getting worse and worse and anyfurther delays are bound to have very serious repercussions on publichealth.

The same can be said about Panchayats. They too cannot absolve them-selves of the problem of tackling the ubiquitous garbage in their respec-tive village areas. If help is required, then ask for it. The Goa Foundationis willing to help those who wish to install vermiculture schemes for pro-cessing garbage at panchayat or council level. But no one is asking.

Vermicomposting unit with two chambers in the St. Britto’s Apartments, Mapusa.

Second Issue: April 2002

The Goa Garbage Times2

Sharada Nagar is a colony of 50 cot-tages, located in Bicholim taluka, about1.5 km from Bicholim town. The resi-dents are mostly primary school teach-ers. The entire colony, about 15 yearsold, is clean and one neither sees heapsof rubbish lying everywhere nor anyplastics flying around. The internalroads of the colony are well maintainedand clean as are the compounds of theindividual households.

The inhabitants of the colony haveno need of public dustbins to keep theirarea clean. Instead they have devisedtheir own methods and arrangementsfor dealing with household garbage.The Bicholim Municipal Council onceinstalled a dustbin in the colony butthe people refused to throw anythingthere. When even after two monthsthe bin was empty as ever, the BMCremoved the bin.

Ms. Deepa Halgekar, one of the resi-dents whom we met, is typical. She hasa compost pit for kitchen and gardenwaste. The organic material is depos-ited daily in the pit and covered withmud to keep away flies and preventbad odour. The pit fills up within threeto four months. When it is full, a simi-lar one is dug nearby. The closed pit isopened after around six months andits contents are used for gardeningpurposes. There are four covered pitsin the Halgekars’ compound. Therewere no signs of rats or foul or offen-sive smell either near the closed pits orthe one in current use.

In this colony the vermicompost pitsvary in size from house to house. Somewere 1x1x1 cubic feet; others werelarger or smaller. Some have lined thefour sides of the pits with laterite stones.Even during the rainy season, the pitsfunction well and are not required tobe shifted elsewhere. Come rain, comeshine, the pits seem to be functioningmarvelously, creating no problems andproducing only fertilizer.

The residents of Sharada Nagarmake it a point to use plastic only ifabsolutely necessary. Whatever plas-tic is used is kept aside and when theBicholim Municipal Council (BMC)truck comes around, the plastic wastedis loaded into it. Also when big trees,or banana plants are cut they arehanded over to the BMC truck. Simi-

In a novel experiment of recycling theirbiodegradable waste, residents of theVerem Villas situated along theMandovi river have initiated, thoughwith difficulties, the environmentfriendly vermiculture process to keeptheir vicinity clean.

The garbage disposal system atVerem Villas is the brainchild of Choand Marguerite Padamsee, a coupleresiding at the complex, a row of 28houses. Only four villas are occupiedthroughout the year. Others are usedonly during holidays.

When the Padamsees came to Goain 1993 to settle down, one of the firstthings that they noticed in their newresidence was that there were simplyno bins anywhere in the complex.Upon inquiry they were informed thatthe easiest way to dispose of the gar-bage (and a practice generally adoptedby all persons living in the area) was tothrow it directly into the Mandoviriver).

They were aghast at the suggestionand immediately set about remedyingwhat they considered extremely un-civilized behavior. No river will takecare of tonnes of garbage emptied dailyinto it, was the thought that was up-permost in their minds as they setabout convincing the residents to haveseparate bins, one for biodegradablegarbage and the other for recyclableand non-biodegradable garbage likeplastic, metal, etc.

Fortunately, the residents wel-comed the idea and it was decided toinstall two bins in front of and at eachend of the row of houses. But thepeople had also to be trained to segre-gate their garbage at home, tie it upneatly in a polybag and empty it intothe bins. A garbage collector wouldthen collect the garbage once a weekand take it away.

The bin (4x4x4 cubic feet) has a coverand a smaller lid to put garbage. Thebins are well maintained, cleaned andpainted regularly. One can see no gar-bage around the bins. The watchmansees to it that the residents use the binsonly. Since the bins are covered thereare no stray animals hovering aroundthe place and the bins are a valuableasset of the complex, a possession ca-pable of being exhibited and not an eyesore to be hidden away from the pub-lic gaze.

larly, other wastes like bulbs, tubelights and bulk material are alsohanded over to the BMC truck.

The residents buy milk directlyfrom the dairy cooperative, so theydon’t face the problem of disposing ofplastic milk bags, which have becomea major curse elsewhere. Many peoplein the colony do burn their dry gar-den waste including leaves, etc, butkeep the ashes for their plants. Veryfew people do burn their householdgarbage, but no one throws away gar-bage. That is how they keep theircolony clean.

The Goa Foundation wanted toknow how it all started and this is whatDeepa Halgekar narrated: ‘The peoplehere are all teachers or headmasters.Everyone was conscious of keepingone’s surroundings clean. Everyonewanted to live in a civilised manner.Someone started the system ofcomposting organic waste and keep-ing the rest of the garbage within thepremises till it could be disposed ofand everyone else followed suit. It isfifteen years now, so we can’t reallysay who started it first.’

The lesson one can learn fromSharada Nagar colony is that we mustunlearn the association we have be-tween ‘garbage’ and ‘throw away’. Weshould not throw away garbage. In-stead, we have to dispose of it respon-sibly because we have created it. Usedproperly, even garbage fetches re-turns. It is when we throw away gar-bage that the problem begins.

This arrangement continued forquite sometime although the residentsdid notice one major problem: the gar-bage would stink while it waited theweek out. Recently, however, VeremVillas started vermicomposting the bio-degradable waste.

Now they use both the bins for non-biodegradable and recyclable wasteand have all the wet garbage sent di-rectly to the compost pit. Thecomposting pit is 6x3x3 cubic feet, lo-cated just outside the Superintendent’soffice. All four sides of the pit are ce-mented and the base is plain earth. Thepit is covered and has a lid throughwhich garbage can be added. The Su-perintendent (Mr. Sanjay Shirodkar) isresponsible for the garbage disposalarrangements.

We enquired with Mrs. Padamsee ifthere were any problem areas and shementioned the following:

1. Not everyone complies strictlywith the rules regarding segregationof waste. While the permanent resi-dents segregate garbage properly,those who visit occasionally are notbothered very much about such prac-tices.

2. Household maids used to earlierfind that they had to walk the entirestretch of the complex to deposit bio-degradable garbage in one bin andnon-biodegradable in the other as thebins were located at either ends of thecomplex. So they would take the short-cut and throw everything in one bin.Even now they have to throw in twoplaces but as the compost pit is morecentrally located, the complaints arefewer.

3. The amount of garbage varieswith the number of people staying inthe place, so it is difficult to maintainperfect composting arrangements.Sometimes the earthworms have sim-ply disappeared: either there was notenough composting material and sothey died of starvation or perhaps theydidn’t like the nature of the garbagesent for composting and migrated else-where. Obviously this problem will beremedied with experience.

4. No one knows as yet what to dowith non-biodegradable garbage. For-tunately, the residents of Verem Villasdo not have the attitude – out of sightis out of mind – and they are workingon how best to solve this problem too.

Bicholim’s Sharada Nagar leads the way in proper wasteand garbage disposal

Verem Villa residents successfully implementvemicomposting solutions for colony garbage

Vermicomposting atShiroda H.S. SchoolVanashree Nature Club of ShirodaHigher Secondary School installed avermicomposting unit recently. Theproject was conducted by World WideFund for Nature India, Goa State, un-der the India Canada EnvironmentFacility. Subhash Shirodkar, Chairmanof the Higher Secondary, said that insix month’s time at least 10 newvermicomposting projects will be car-ried out. G. B. Phadnis, Nature ClubAdvisor of Vanashree Nature Clubpledged to take responsibility forsustainability of the project in theschool along with the students.

Syanora Dantas (Assagao) was theresource person. Wilbur Vaz, Asst.Education Officer, World Wide FundFor Nature India, Goa State coordi-nated the activity.

Garbage Collection atSapna GardensSapna Gardens lies within the jurisdic-tion of V.P. Socorro. Without any helpfrom the V.P. the colony has started agarbage disposal system of its own.The builder, when constructing the resi-dential units, left no space to install binsor to set up of composting pits and assuch the residents had to be convincedabout the need for a scientific methodof waste management. Ms. LisaNorohna took the initiative and tire-lessly moved towards this goal. Shefirst convinced the residents of SapnaGardens about waste segregation andexplained to them how to do it. Thenshe set up a small place for four bins:one for biodegradable waste whichwas to be wrapped in 3-4 sheets ofnewspaper, one for metal and glass,one for plastic, one for sanitary nap-kins. After considerable work, thescheme is now working to the satisfac-tion of the residents.

It is becoming increasingly clear thatonly those building colonies that maketheir own effort to process their or-ganic waste using earthworms or otheragents will succeed in keeping theirenvironment clean. As existing dumpsites get filled up and people in villagesobject to the opening of new dumpsites, municipal councils andpanchayats will require people to com-post their waste within their own pre-mises.

Vermicomposting unit of Verem Villas Colony

The Goa Garbage Times 3

Designs for earthworm-based garbage bins for Single Family Residences

The designs given above are of earth-worm bins made of brick and wiremesh which can easily manage the wethousehold waste (including paper, butexcluding plastic) of a normal Goanfamily residence.

These bins are in operation at a resi-dential house in Assagao and withinthe compound of the St. Britto’s Coop-erative Housing Society, opposite St.Britto’s High School in Dattawadi,Mapusa.

The bins were constructed by a lo-cal mason using only local materials ofcheap brick, sand and mortar, and wiremesh for protection against pests likerats. The two bins also have a metalsheet roof protection to protect theearthworms from sun and rain.

The bins have been in operationnow for more than six months. Thewaste is being safely handled by theearthworms in both bins without caus-ing any inconvenience to persons inthe immediate neighbourhood.

Persons including councillors fromCouncils and panchas from Panchayatscan take inspection of these bins anytime, provided they give the Goa Foun-dation staff adequate time to accom-pany them and to explain the featuresof the design.

The present design has a water chan-nel all around the bin to prevent antsfrom invading the bins and destroy-ing the earthworms.

The Goa Foundation has a perma-nent programme for assistingPanchayat and Council authorities for

• Prepare the bin as per the designslaid out on these pages. These bins aredesigned to keep out ants, rats, lizards,flies and other predators who also loveto eat earthworms. If you need to haveour staff standing by while the bin isbeing constructed, please call.• Please note that the actual height ofthe bin from the floor to the top mustnot be more than 2 and a half feet. Atthis height, you can comfortably movematerials while remaining outside thebins.• These bins are designed for auto-functioning. Once the earthworms areintroduced, you will have to do noth-ing more than adding garbage to theunit every day.• The earthworms will survive even ifnothing is added for a few weeks, sothat you can easily go for a holidaywithout worrying about them.• The base of the bin (plinth area)should be well laid out, with RCC, sothat no ants can penetrate the base ofthe bin and enter it from underneath.This precaution must be specially re-sorted to in those areas which haveproblems with ants already. In suchcases, it would even be useful to packat least 4 inches of base before raisingthe brick walls of the bin itself.• Remember that once these bins areconstructed, they will solve your gar-bage problems for years to come. Theyrequire practically no maintenance atall. Earthworms will multiply. In casethey die for any reason, you can al-ways introduce fresh worms. There areadequate suppliers in Goa.• The base of the bins must have agradual slope since this can drain out

any water that is accumulating in thebins.• Though these bins are designed forhousehold garbage, they can also takein paper, cartons, sacks, leaves andother waste from hedges, grass etc.Earthworms will digest all such wasteswithout any problem.• Remember that you must ensure thatthe garbage pile is always damp, notwet. Spraying it once in three days willhelp maintain sufficient wetness. A wetsack kept over the pile will ensure thatthe humidity is maintained for a longerperiod.• Do not start the unit without a properroof. Rainfall and sunshine are ex-tremes as far as earthworms are con-cerned. The earthworms will die if thegarbage is soaking wet and if the pileis also too dry and hot. Do a properjob with such protection measuressince they will be a permanent solu-tion to such problems.• Always ensure that the water chan-nels around the bins, designed to keepants away, are emptied every six daysso that mosquitoes do not use themfor breeding purposes. If you haveducks around, they will enjoy the wa-ter in the channel and also preventmosquito breeding. If you do not haveducks, then introduce guppies in thechannels. In that case, you will neverneed to empty the channels to get ridof mosquito larvae.

setting up such earthworm bins forprocessing of organic waste generatedwithin their areas. However, as thedesigns given below indicate, they areso simple to construct that any masonin any village can raise them up in afew days. The Foundation staff, how-ever, are ready to be called to stand bywhen the construction is being madeso that no mistakes occur. The Foun-dation will also make arrangements tosupply earthworms for the bins oncethese are constructed.

Those Councils and Panchayatswanting permanent supervision ofthese bins for a period of six monthscan sign a memorandum with theFoundation for providing such servicesat a nominal fee. If the earthworms diefor any reason, the Foundation caneasily have them replaced as well.

Once sufficient bins have been con-structed, the Foundation in associationwith the DSTE, will organise trainingprogrammes for Panchayat and Coun-cil staff on how to manage such binswith minimum effort and full success.

Keep the following details in mindas well• Plan the location of the bins well inadvance. Place them at remote corners,under trees, against walls, and as far aspossible, away from the residence it-self.• For construction, use materials thatcan be easily removed. Do not wastecostly cement in plastering and otherfeatures. Use the cheapest burnt brickin the market and construct in such away that if you wish to relocate the binsome day, this can be easily done.

Dual Chamber unit - section drawing

Plan of the Dual Chamber unit (for picture refer to page 1)

PCC Bed

Water Channel

Brick Masonry (0.115 cm thick)

Partition of Brick

Chamber to be covered with netting

1¼” PVC Pipe for Drainage1.20

mts

0.10

0.1

0

0.8

0 m

ts

0.10

0.1

0

0.10 0.10 1.5 mts 0.10 0.10

1.90 mts

Chamber 1 Chamber 2

23”

23”

1.00

mts

0.15

m

0

.30

0.

30

Netting for the Chamber

1¼” Pipes (PVC) for Aeration

Roughage

1¼” PVC Pipe for DrainageBed of Cement

Brick

Voids

1 2

Goa Foundation earthworm bins forgarbage disposal

The Goa Garbage Times4

The design given below is of a threechamber earthworm bin which can beinstalled in cooperative housing societ-ies or an average restaurant.

As can be seen from the photoabove, the structure can be constructedby bricks and netlon. The netlon is usedprimarily to restrict flies and ants fromgetting inside the bin. The bin can eas-ily manage almost all wet householdor hotel wastes (including paper, butexcluding plastic).

These bins are in operation at a resi-dential house in Parra. The unit workedwell for three months, after which itwas attacked by ants that came in frombelow the ground.

The unit was then closed for repairs.The main repairs involved putting inan additional 4 inches of cement con-crete to raise the plinth. Everything elsewas kept the same. The unit has onceagain gone on stream.

The bins were constructed by a localmason using only local materials ofcheap brick, sand and mortar, and wiremesh for protection against pests likerats. The bin also has a metal sheet roof

Earthworm bins for residences as well as commercial establishments

A few tips onhandlingearthworms

1. Earthworms dislike sunlight:Therefore, the vermicomposting unitshould be placed in a shade and theunit should be covered with moistjute bags or palm fronds. The unitshould be covered from the top.

2. Earthworms dislike citrus fruits:therefore, do separate the citrus fruitsfrom kitchen waste.

3. Organisms like big black antsas well as red ants, centipedes, frogs,rats etc. relish earthworms. A home-made solution containing 100 gmseach of chilli powder and turmericpowder along with a little salt and alittle soap powder dissolved in 20litres of water can control most ofthe pests in the vicinity of thecomposting units. The solutionshould be sprayed or poured allaround the unit on the soil. Neem oil(0.5%) may also be used effectively.It is good practice to plant a few linesof turmeric plant all round the units.

Waste that could be used forvermicomposting:

Agricultural Waste: stubblewaste, husk, straw and farmyardmanure. Stem, leaf matter, fruit rind,pulp and stubble. Be careful whenhandling an all-critic waste.

Animal waste: Dung, urine andbiogas slurry.

Urban solid waste: Kitchen wastefrom households and restaurants,waste from market yards, and sludgefrom sewage treatment plants.

Agro industries: Food processingunits: peel, rind and unused pulp offruits and vegetables, fine bagasse,pressmud and seed husk, stems,leaves and flowers after extractionof oil.

protection to protect the earthwormfrom sun and rain. The present designhas a water channel all around the binto prevent ants from invading the binsfrom outside and destroying the earth-worms. No mosquitoes breed in thewater channel since the owner also hasa couple of ducks which constantly dis-turb the water in the channel.

The tank is vertically divided intothree chambers by a wall containinggaps to facilitate aeration as well as mi-gration of earthworms from one cham-ber to another

The bins have been in operationnow for more than six months. Thewaste is being safely handled by theearthworms in all three bins withoutcausing any inconvenience to personsin the family house.

The covers of the three chambersor bins can be screwed off in case ofany emergency or if the compost hasto be removed from the chambers.When garbage is to be thrown into it,only half the cover needs to be raised.

Though the unit has been con-structed for a bungalow, the capacity

3 Chamber Unit - (section)

Vermicomposting unit with three chambers in a residential bungalow at Parra

Roughage

1¼” PVC Pipe for Drainage

Bed of Cement

Brick

1¼” Pipes (PVC) for Aeration

Voids1

Netting for the Chamber

2 3

is adequate for a building with uptoten flats. The bins have been designedin such a way that one can keep onadding chambers if necessary to ex-pand the capacity of the unit.

At present, all kinds of waste includ-ing kitchen wastes, left over food, car-tons, paper, organic farm wastes,leaves, grass, egg shells, and otherwastes are thrown into the bin.

The base of the bin has been filledwith sonnas, or waste coconut husks.This retains moisture, and enables theearthworms to find a refuge if they findthe heat has increased because theowner has forgotten to spray thechamber with water twice a week.

If this unit is used for a building withseveral tenants or owners, it is best thatthe cover is locked. In such a circum-stances, the waste should be allowedinto the bin only once a day, at whichtime the bins are unlocked. If the binsare not locked, unscrupulous peopleare bound to use the bins as a generalgarbage dump, to get rid of even bulbs,plastic and bottles. So it is best that theyare locked for most of the day.

The Goa Garbage Times 5

For composting units in the largercommercial establishments, includinghotels, resorts, restaurants, factoriesand institutions, the design given be-low is advisable.

These four chamber earthworm binscan be installed on waste land. The sizeof the vermicomposting units can varyaccording to specific needs, but theheight should not exceed two and halffeet to enable staff manning the unitsto easily remove or add the garbageinto the units. The structure shownbelow can be constructed by bricks andnetlon. The netlon is used primarily torestrict flies and ants from getting in-side the bins. The bins can easily man-age wet household or hotel wastes (in-cluding paper, but excluding plastic).

The four chamber unit is designedto allow earthworms to move fromone chamber to the other in a circle,returning to the first chamber whenthey have completed digesting thewaste in the others.

A tank of 2.5ft x 2ft x 2.5ft (lxbxh) isfirst constructed, preferably in theshade of tree. To protect it from excessheat and rain, a roof has to be erectedto protect the bins. The tank is dividedinto four equal parts with brick wallsthat have vents to facilitate aeration aswell as migration of earthworms fromone chamber to another. The unit isdesigned specifically for easy use inpanchayat areas.

For commercial establishments likefactories or hotels, even partially de-composed matter or decayed or de-composed organic waste may be fedto the worms. For this all the availablewaste can be cut or shredded intopieces of small size manually with thehelp of a chopper or by using an elec-trically operated shredding machinewhich cuts the waste into uniform sizeat a rapid pace. The waste thus cut hasmore surface area exposed for rapiddecomposition. Such waste is initiallydumped into a pit along with cowdung

Earthworm bins for Village Panchayats, Institutions, Factories and Hotels

and allowed to partially decomposeand later fed to the worms in thevermibeds.

The mixture should be spread onthe bed. It is advisable for the begin-ner to spread small amounts of refuseonly twice a week and then graduallyadd the mixture everyday. Watering iscontinued according to the require-ment and the unit is still covered withwet jutebags to keep away flies andinsects. After a few applications of therefuse, only the refuse should beturned over with a pitchfork takingcare not to disturb the worms in thepits.

The addition of the cowdung in therefuse will add to the pace of

A four chamber vermicompsot bin,similar to the three chamber bin onfacing page, has been installed at thePanjim Municipal Council animal shel-ter at St Inez. The unit has been work-ing successfully.

The raw material fed to the earth-worms at the shelter comprises wastenewspaper coated with dog excretaand urine. (The shelter uses newspa-per to line the bottoms of the cages inwhich the dogs are kept while they areundergoing sterilisation).

Apparently, the earthworms are sofond of this diet, that they have thrivedand multiplied. The Goa Foundationintends to use the excess earthwormsfor other installations.

Plan of 4 Chamber Unit (as seen from top)

PCC Bed

Water Channel

Brick Masonry(0.115 cmthick)

Partitionof Brick

Chamber to becovered withnetting

1¼” PVCPipe forDrainage

Chamber 1 Chamber 2

Chamber 3 Chamber 4

vermicomposting and then even thequality of the compost will be good.

The bins can be constructed by a lo-cal mason using only local materials ofcheap brick, sand and mortar, andNetlon for protection against pests.The present design has a water chan-nel all around the bin to prevent antsfrom invading the bins and destroy-ing the earthworms.

However, as the design given be-low indicates, it is so simple to constructthat any mason in any village can raiseit up in a few days. The Foundationwill also make arrangements for earth-worms for the bins once these are con-structed.

Vermicomposting unit with four chambers at PFA animal shelter, St Inez, Panaji.

Costs of constructingearthworm bins

What do these earthworm binsmade from brick cost?

Given below is an approximatecost of erecting the two chamberbin whose picture is given on thefront page (and design is pro-vided on page 3).

Number of bricks(cheapest variety):300 x 1.5 Rs.450

Cement Bags: 2 x 150 Rs.300

Sand: one cartload Rs.200

Mason (2 days) Rs.400

Metal work (includingiron frame, 1x1 ironnetting for bin covers;roofing material withGI pipe support and3 patras of 4 feet each(costs includetransport and fitting) Rs.1750

Total Rs.3100

The Goa Garbage Times6

Expert persons who can assist with earthworm unitsand earthworm supplies in Goa:

Krishna Porob:Available on phone for advice on construction of earthworm bins forprivate residences, cooperative housing societies, factories, schools,institutions etc. Contact him through the Goa Foundation office at263305; 256479.

Porob can supply earthworms for new bins. He will visit the newunit till he finds the unit has stabilised and can run on its own. Hewill also work out maintenance arrangements which includereplacement of earthworms when necessary and transport.

Lulu’s Farm:Can supply earthworms for those who have constructed bins.

Patil Vermi Farm, Shiva, Behind Prasad Lodge, Gadag 582 101,Phone: 08372- 37536 .

Can supply any number of earthworms even for large municipalcouncils or Panchayats. Rate is Rs.400 (including transport) for1000 earthworms (mixed).

ICAR:

Supply of earthworms for composting agricultural wastes.

These are the two types of earthworms that are generally used to deal withgarbage. The earthworm on the left is called Eisenia fetida. These are thin in shapeand small and do not move around too much. They remain mostly on thesurface and multiply quite fast.

The earthworm on the right is the Eudrillus eugenia. These tend to movearound a lot. They are also larger and thicker and good waste processors. They

Vermicomposting:Frequently Asked Questions

Q. If the system emits foul odour, what is the reason?A. A properly maintained compost system should not emit foul smell.

Smell will be produced for various reasons: the bin has inadequate venti-lation holes; it is overloaded and the system is unable to compost the totalamount of kitchen waste; the worms have died and the composting pro-cess has stopped.

Q. Will the bin attract flies?A. If the bin is covered and the area around it kept clean, it will not

attract flies.Q. How fast do these worms reproduce?A. Very fast! Eight worms can produce 1,500 offspring in six months.Q. If the worms reproduce at such a fast rate, won’t they overpopulate

the bin?A. The availability of food, space restrictions and fouling of the envi-

ronment keeps the number of worms in check.Q. Do I have to stay at home to take care of my worms or can I leave

them for a period of time?A. You can leave your worm bin unattended for a couple of weeks

without causing them any major harm as long as the bedding is not al-lowed to dry. Avoid adding any fresh food material and cover the beddingsurface with moist newspaper or gunny bags so as to keep the beddingmaterial from drying out. You may also leave mud pots containing watercovered with lids, half buried into the pits. Even if the surrounding mate-rial dries up, the earthworm may move and stay beneath these moist pots.

Q. Do the worms bite? Will they crawl out of the bin?A. No, the worms will not bite you. If you create an ideal environment

with proper bedding, ventilation, temperature, moisture and food, theworms will not leave the bin.

Q. What will the finished compost look like?A. Finished wormy compost should be granular and earthy smelling.Q. My worms have not eaten any of the waste even though I started

my vermicomposting units weeks ago?A. When first starting a worm unit, the worms need time to get used to

their new surroundings. Usually, they start eating the original beddingmaterial first and then move up to the new food source. Add just enoughwaste initially till you see worms moving around in it. Then add morewaste.

Q. My worm bin has become smelly and the worms have not eaten allthe food. What have I done wrong and how can I fix it?

A. This is a sign that you have overfed your worms and they cannotkeep up with the amount of food that is being added into the worm bins.To fix this, stop feeding them and remove any of the uneaten food. Thengently turn over the bedding material with a garden fork so as to aerate it.If acidic, add a handful of lime to help correct the pH levels. Then startfeeding the worms again, only small amounts at first so that you can getan idea of how much they can consume so as not to overfeed them again.

move up and down the pile, but are also found generally on the surface. Duringthe monsoons, they will migrate quite a bit.

These worms are known to process any waste, including household kitchenwaste, garden cuttings, leaves, paper, cartons, sacks etc. The only material theycannot eat is plastic. Ensure that plastic is never introduced into the garbagebins.

Eudrillus engenia (African variety)Eisenia Fetida (Red wrigglers)

The Goa Garbage Times 7

At Lulu’s farm at Anjuna, you can aninteresting example of ‘backyard earth-worm farming’ run by Mr.VincentD’Souza who is also quite a goodsource of information on earthworms.

The ancestral house of Mr D’Souzais at one end of the property and theorganic farm which is behind it hasbeen in existence for over 50 years. Mr.D’Souza feels proud that his farm wasonce the main supplier of vegetablesto the Mapusa market. Later whenvegetables from Belgaum flooded themarket, his focus shifted to animal hus-bandry. But this too was soon aban-doned and today the mainstay of thefarm is aelovera and orchid plantationand other ornamental plants. Hope-fully earthworms will someday rule toroost here too.

Mr. Souza says he is particular aboutwho he sells the earthworms to. Quitedisarmingly he states that they are hispets and they will be sold only to thosewho promise to take good care ofthem. Purchasers must also be willingto take the trouble to learn how tomaintain earthworms i.e., they musthave knowledge of the earthworm’slikes and dislikes. Quite a tall order in-deed.

Lulu’s Farms sells compost @Rs. 10/- per kg and a thriving colony of aboutseveral hundred earthworms placed ina mud vase costs Rs. 200/-. Mr. VincentSouza prepares this colony by puttingfarm waste in the vase and introduc-ing a few earthworms into it. The vaseis watered and kept covered with wetsacking material or a plastic sheet. Theholes in the vase serve to drain the ex-

Mr. Ambrose Vaz, working with theState Bank at Mapusa, has been prac-tising vermicomposting for the pastseven years in Saligao as a privatehobby. Initially he had started by us-ing the earthworm species Eisenia fetida.Recently, he also started using earth-worms of the species Eudrillus eugenia.These are the two commonly usedearthworms for speedy processing ofgarbage. Ambrose has around seventhousand worms now in his pits. Hehad built a tank in the ground to ac-commodate his Eudrillus eugenia spe-cies of earthworms, but, due to im-proper planning of the drainage sys-tem, the tank got flooded. In addition,frogs invaded the tanks and ate theworms. Due to these problems, dur-ing the rains, he lost most of theEudrillus worms. Fortunately, he man-aged to save some cocoons and slowlyrebuilt a population of this species. Al-though Ambrose is having quite a num-ber of the Eisenia fetida species, he wasstill not willing to sell them.

Ambrose has self-designed all hisunits. The most successfulvermicompost unit shape was of a largewine glass where the base retains quite

‘Garbage is Gold’, say R.S.Patil, afarmer from Gadag, near Hubli(Karnataka), one of the pioneers ofvermicomposting on a fairly largescale. Patil composts all his agriculturalwastes using earthworms, the samespecies that also enjoy domestic gar-bage.

Patil’s Vermi Farms has a readystock of earthworms, vermiwash andprefabricated ready-to-use units forthose interested in startingvermicomposting units. All the above,as well as compost, can be purchasedfrom him at affordable prices. But moreimportant than all this, Patil is ever ea-ger to share his knowledge with oth-ers, assist in the design ofvermicomposting units suitable to in-dividual needs and to help out whenthere are problems.

The Goa Foundation recently in-vited Mr. Patil in Goa to demonstratevermicomposting techniques at a

Earthworm Experts in Goa

cess water. When the waste matterstarts changing into compost it is a signthat the earthworms have started mul-tiplying and after a short while the vaseis ready for sale or the earthworms canbe shifted to the composting pit.

Mr. Souza recommended the fol-lowing procedures to be followed whilesetting up a farm vermicompost pit:

1. Prepare a shed with walls and ce-mented floor.

2. Spread some mud two inchesthick and 2.5mts. in length and 1mt inbreadth on the cemented floor. Overthis spread upto three feet of shreddedfarm waste which has partlycomposted. Finally add a thin layer offresh cowdung and water it. Cover thiswith damp sacks to retain moisture.

3. To introduce earthworms, makesome space at the top of the heap bydigging aside the waste, overturn thecontents of the vase into the hole andlet it settle on its own. Remove the vaseafter three or four days, cover the holewith waste and then with a wet sack.

The key to the whole operation isnot to disturb the earthworms as far aspossible as ‘they don’t like it’.

One of the vases with its earth-worms is placed in the drawing roomof the ancestral house of Mr. Souza,and are regularly fed banana skins. Thevase has a colony of worms and shadesof grey and black with fungus and lazybaby earthworms gently movingaround. There are also thousands ofother small creatures, some tiny blacklike ants with a white spot on the topconstantly on a move.

The Agriculture Department sponsorsa composting scheme for improve-ment of coconut produce. The schemeis called Integrated Farming in Coco-nut Holdings for Productivity Im-provement: Organic Manure Units.This is a Central Government schemeprepared by the Coconut Develop-ment Board, Cochin.Purpose of the scheme —The schemeis meant to encourage farmers to usewaste from the farm for compostingand to use the compost as organicfertiliser instead of using chemicalfertiliser. It is widely accepted that ap-plication of organic manure improvesthe quality and taste of coconut pro-duce.Details of scheme—The scheme en-visages construction of compostingunits by the farmer, after receiving ap-proval from the ZAO, cost of which isreimbursed by the Department.

Recommended specifications forvermicompost are as follows:

For large capacity production viz.production of 10 metric tonnesvermicompost per cycle, the tank orpit should be 15m x 1.5m x 0.7m. Abamboo shed with a size of 15m x 15mx 1.5m has to be constructed over thepit. In a year there can be 4 cycles pro-ducing 40 mt of compost.

The farmer first makes an applica-

tion to the Zonal Agriculture Officer.The ZAO then inspects the farm andapproves the application of the schemefor the coconut plantation.

Thereafter the farmer constructs thepit or tanks for holding the materialfor composting and an overhead shedwhich is required in order to keep thearea shady so that the material forcomposting remains moist at all times.

After the farmer has completed theconstructions and commencedcomposting, he submits a form withcopies of the bills attached for pay-ment. The ZAO makes a second inspec-tion at which time half the cost of con-struction or Rs.20,000/- whichever isless is paid to the farmer.

The farmer can not only use the richcompost for his own farm but also sellit. The packaging and storage costs canalso be included in the bills submittedfor reimbursement.

This scheme is available to thosehaving coconut plantations only. How-ever, it is possible for village commu-nities or housing colonies in the vicin-ity of coconut plantations which arehaving such scheme to send their bio-degradable garbage to such plantationsfor composting.

In such cases necessary adaptationsmay have to be made to accommo-date kitchen waste.

The vermicomposting bin maintained by Ambroze Vaz

Ambrose Vaz from Saligao

Patil Vermi Farms (Gadag)

ICAR vermiproject: composting forimprovement of coconut production

Lulu’s Vermiculture Farm at Anjuna

a bit of water so that there is no fear ofit suddenly drying up. The design ef-fectively prevents invasion by ants.Ambrose has 3 such tub-shaped units,each one about 90cm x 60cm and 2ftdeep and two tanks each about 2” x 3½ “ and 2 ft deep. With this design hehas also managed to tackle the prob-lem concerning rats.

Cockroaches, however, seem to stillcause a problem. Now he has trans-ferred all the worms into three tubsand two tanks, where utmost care istaken to see that ants and cockroachesdo not enter the pits. The garbage isplaced on the surface of the waste, andover this, a sack is placed. The manurebelow the garbage showed a texturelike that of fine tea powder.

According to Ambrose, to start asmall vermicomposting unit, a popu-lation of about 200 earthworms is re-quired. Though there are practicalproblems, the use of earthworms forprocessing domestic garbage is ben-eficial and relatively easy. Amrose isnot only a ready learner, he is also will-ing to teach.

workshop organised by the Dept. ofScience, Technology and Environmentfor municipal and panchayat officialson the subject of garbage management.

Patil supplies compost and earth-worms.

He has two types of earthwormswhich he can supply at moment’s no-tice in any quantity, especially to Coun-cils and Panchayats:

• Eudrillus Eugenia (African variety)

• Eisenia Fetida (Red wrigglers)

Approximately 1000 young earth-worms are prepared for shipment withproper food to last two weeks. Rs.300per box from the farm, Rs.400 (inclu-sive of transport).

Address: Patil Vermi Farm, Shiva,Behind Prasad Lodge, Gadag 582 101,Phone: 08372- 37536

The Goa Garbage Times8

Panaji Municipal Council: Vermicomposting at Curca

The wastes collected by the PanajiMunicipal Council are deposited atCurca, the official dumpsite. Part of theorganic waste is being taken care ofby a fairly extensive vermicompostingunit which was started six months back.Approximately one-third of the totalwaste composted in this dumpsite isnow available as rich manure pro-duced by the friendly earth worm.

There are 14 vermibeds out ofwhich only 2 were being utilized ini-tially. At present, 10 are fully functional.According to the person in charge ofthe unit, the earthworms used are Af-rican Red Worms (Eudrillus eugenia),

and the 2 important factors to be keptin mind are water and oxygen.Composting here in Curca is carriedout in vermibeds of 7/8m x 1m x 1mdimensions.

All 14 beds in the Curca Dumpsiteare located side by side. A roof-shelteris provided at the dumpsite, and it isdesigned to prevent rain water fromflooding the beds and also excess heatfrom killing the worms. Cementedwalls surround each pit. A drainagehole is present at one end of the bed.This serves to get rid of any excesswater.

The organic waste is allowed to de-

compose in one of the pits for a periodof 2 weeks, without any earthwormsinside the pits. Plastics and other non-biodegradable matter are removed atthis stage. Hard matter like shells, etc.are also taken out by running thewaste through a wire mesh. The half-decomposed, mud-like organic matteris then introduced into another pit con-taining earthworms. Approximately 5kg of garbage is added to 1 kg of earth-worms.

The garbage added is not allowedto exceed 8 inches in height. It is alsonecessary to churn the matter, at leasttwice a week, to enhance decomposi-tion efficiency. Jute sacks soaked inwater are placed on top of this decom-posing heap to prevent the tempera-ture from building up, escape of mois-ture and any attacks or disturbances.

It takes, on an average, 6 – 7 weeksfor the entire decomposition processto be complete, with the aid of earth-worms, after which the earthwormsare always finally removed from thecompost.

This can be done either by manualremoval or by drying the waste andthen adding wet cowdung on top ofthe compost at different spots, wherethe earthworms will aggregate and canthen be removed.

The compost generated from theCurca dumpsite of Panaji Municipalcouncil is sold at a rate of Rs.3 per kg.Though the waste can generate money

The Taj Hotel group at Fort Aguadainstalled a vermicomposting project 3-4 years ago. It is one of the very fewhotels in the area that has attempted tocompost its wastes in this manner. Theunit however is still facing problems.

The wet garbage from the hotel isbrought daily to the unit which is justbehind the hotel premises. There aretwo vermicomposting units of 11 mt x1 mt x 2” each.

The project is looked after by mi-crobiologist Ms. Dorothy as well as Mr.Madilkar from the hotel’s horticulturedepartment.

The staff manning the vermi-composting units told Goa Foundationsupervisor Krishna Porob that the or-ganic waste is first allowed to decom-pose for a period of two weeks, in one

of the sheds specially erected for thepurpose.

The earthworms are not introducedat this stage. Plastics and other non-biodegradable matter are removedfrom the waste. Hard matter like shells,etc. are also taken out by scrutinizingthe waste manually. Only after this pre-treatment is the half-decomposed,mud-like organic matter introducedinto the trenches constructed for thepurpose and the earthworms intro-duced.

Although being managed by pro-fessional staff, we found ants inside thecomposting units. This may be becausethere was no water in the water chan-nels constructed around the bins. Antsare a known predator of earthwormsas they relish earthworm cocoons anddine on hapless young juveniles.

Vermicomposting by Taj Hotels at Fort Aguada

for the Council, it is struggling to finda buyer. The authorities in fact are pur-chasing compost from places as faraway as Miraj. This has been madepossible by manipulating the standardsfor defining acceptable compost, mak-ing it possible for only outside suppli-ers to bid for tenders for supply.

Approximately 25 – 30 truckloadsof waste including non-biodegradablegarbage is dumped at the Curca siteper day. To the woes of the Council arenow added the wastes of Mapusa town(10-12 trucks per day) which have beenallowed here by the State Governmentafter it closed the open Mapusa gar-bage dumpsite.

The vermicomposting units have tobe rapidly expanded to accommodateall this waste.

Spearheading the scheme to processthe garbage using earthworms is JColaco of the Council who is now quiteexperienced in the use of earthworms.Colaco arranged through the GoaFoundation for supply of 25,000 earth-worms from Gadag earthworm sup-plier R S. Patil. It is to Colaco’s creditthat not only have these earthwormssurvived after some initial setbacks, butthey are doing their job well and mul-tiplying as well. Other Councils shouldvisit Curca and see how they can du-plicate the work in their areas.

The animal shelter at St. Inez housesover a hundred stray dogs and otheranimals brought there by the munici-pal authorities and the dog squad forsterilization. The shelter, which isowned by the Panaji Municipal Coun-cil (PMC), is managed by the Peoplefor Animals (PFA). The person incharge of the shelter is Ms Angela Kazi.

The Goa Foundation installed fourvermibeds at the shelter in November2001. The waste fed to the earthwormsincludes the excreta from the dog cagesand the newspapers used to clean thewaste, as well as cowdung and otherorganic wastes including body partsfrom the sterilisation operations.

The four vermicomposting units areof size each measuring 4mt x 0.75mt x

Vermicomposting at People for Animal (PFA)shelter at St. Inez, Panaji.

2ft . The vermibeds are fully protectedwith a wire mesh to prevent access torats and other pests that may disturbor destroy the worms. There is also aroof raised to protect the worms andthe beds from the impact of rain anddirect sun. A total of around 6000worms were used initially to chargethe bins and initiate the process.

The bin are visited regularly byKrishna Porob from the Goa Founda-tion who finds that the worms areflourishing from the waste generatedby the shelter. In fact, worms gener-ated from the shelter bins have multi-plied, enabling the Foundation to drawon the surplus worms for use in newbins set up in other areas.

Vermicomposting units at the Curca garbage dumpsite of PMC.

Vermicomposting units of the Taj at Sinquerim

From a cursory examination of thework being done at the unit, it appearsthat not much serious attention is be-ing devoted to its daily operations,though as stated earlier, the workersat the site appeared to be knowledge-able about earthworms.

The construction of the trenchesalso leaves quite a lot to be desired.They appear to have been raised bymasons who forget to bring theirplumb lines with them. The water chan-nels were constructed later, but wewere surprised to find no water in themeither. However, there were earth-worms in the trenches and the garbagewas sufficiently damp.

As the workers get accustomed tothe processes at work, success shouldfollow. Other hotels can learn from theexperience of the Taj group.

The Goa Garbage Times

The Goa Garbage Times is part of aproject on successful implementa-tion of garbage regulations,supported by the Department ofScience, Technology and Environ-ment, Government of Goa. Viewsexpressed in this paper, which isprinted for circulation amongNGOs, government officials,councillors, panchayat membersand interested members of thepublic, do not reflect the views ofDSTE, but of the Goa Foundation.Contact the Foundation for detailson how to construct earthwormbins and for assistance in monitor-ing at: Phones: 256479; 263305 oremail: oib@goatelecom.com