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MY HEROES: DOERS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE

MY HEROES: DOERS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE. Almitra H Patel Member, Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management in Class 1 Cities in India almitrapatel@rediffmail.com www.almitrapatel.com. HEROES ARE ALL AROUND US, LIKE MY FATHER: PHEROZE SIDHWA.

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MY HEROES: DOERS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE

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  1. MY HEROES: DOERS WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE Almitra H Patel Member, Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management in Class 1 Cities in India almitrapatel@rediffmail.com www.almitrapatel.com

  2. HEROES ARE ALL AROUND US,LIKE MY FATHER: PHEROZE SIDHWA • Born 1893, 7th of 8 children, dirt poor • Eldest brother helped him thru BA, LLB. Jamshed N Mehta a Gandhian inspired him in 1922 to make India self-reliant. Started 9 industries: Bharat Tiles, Grindwell, Lightcrete insulation, TIPCO, Fysax (now Hind Ferodo), Bharat Metal Printers (now Metal Box), rock wool, first granite sawing, floor cleaners etc.

  3. MY MOTHER : TEHMI (nee VACHA) Born 1909, the 4th of 5 kids of Parsi parents. Father taught 8 Indian languages at Berlin U. Was interned in WW 1, so family starved, mother was stunted. Educated well, sent to India in 1934 for arranged marriage. Took over a failing school to help 40 kids pass finals. Grew it single-handed to now 3950 poor kids: Jr KG to SSC in English + Marathi medium, 2 shifts, on 5 acres in Devlali, Mah.

  4. EMPOWERED ME : 1ST Indian girl at MIT ? BS in Gen Engg, MS in Industrial Ceramics. 6 yrs R&D for Grindwell, then 24 yrs making import-substitution foundry refractories. 1972 moved to 4 villages away from B’lore. From 1991, after retirement, addressed the problem of Bangalore garbage dumped on roadsides: stray dogs killing rural livestock, chasing 2-wheelers, kids and farm workers. Fields made infertile by plastic and leachate. Helped city find land for waste management.

  5. ‘KAKA’ KANTISEN SHROFF, MY ECO-GURU Saw plants-cattle-humans use each others’ wastes and the need to revive sustainable Vedic recycling of urban food waste nutrients back to the soil. Chairman of Excel Industries, he developed bio- cultures to compost city waste in wind-rows. This became the heart of India’s waste-mgt policy: keep ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ wastes unmixed till collected separately for composting and recycling

  6. CAPT J S VELU, A BIPOLAR VISIONARY Came to Blr to implement Exnora’s door-to-door garbage collection to keep wastes off the streets. 1994 Surat plague: “India sitting on a time-bomb.” Conceived Clean India Campaign in 2 weeks : 30 cities in 30 days in my Maruti hi-roof van. “Clean Up & Flourish or Pile Up and Perish”. We found “Highways are the Garbage Map of India” Hugely positive Municipal response inspired our 2nd Clean India Campaign in 1995: Marketing Hope to 70 more cities from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

  7. S R RAO, THE SAVIOUR OF SURAT One fearless IAS officer transformed Surat from India’s dirtiest city to 2nd cleanest in 18 months through “additional cleaning charges” Made an example of those using money, muscle or influence to flout the law. Led by example, with 6am surprise rounds. Identified and removed “black spots” 1 by 1. Instant and effective grievance redressals inspired voluntary road-widening cooperation.

  8. MY P.I.L IN THE SUPREME COURT Two heroines (Nargis Irani and Katy Rustom) whose 10 year battle made Dahanu India’s first Eco-sensitive Zone, inspired me at an INTACH meet to file a PIL in the Supreme Court in Dec 1996, for every State and U.T. to provide waste-processing land for 300 largest cities. S.C. appointed 8 experts to frame a Solid Waste Mgt Policy, finalised after inputs from 300 Mpl Comm’rs . This became the basis of our waste mgt Rules 2000.

  9. PENDING ISSUES: POLLUTION PREVENTION IN WASTE • Bio-sanitising and bio-mining • ‘Plastic roads’ (see PROBES/101/2005-06 and PROBES/122/2008-09 of CPCB) • Lead-free paints and labelling • Low-mercury tube-lights and labelling • Low-free-phosphate detergents to help control water-hyacinth in lakes & rivers • No use-and-throw PVC • Sell only Compostable garbage bin liners • Mandatory Certification of fly ash used in ready-mix concrete

  10. Dr KEKI H GHARDA, GHARDA CHEMICALS My 16-year SWM crusade had the constant support of my gem of a husband, Hoshang Patel, a cheerful, fair & much-loved CEO. His friend Dr Gharda is a globally famous 82 yr old chemist whose brilliant innovations have produced better and far cheaper dyes, agrochemicals, high-performance plastics, pigments and now a path-breaking process to recover iron, Al and Ti from Red Mud, a global pollutant in trillions of tons. He’s given all to a Trust to run non-profit Gharda Institute of Technology in Ratnagiri Dist & fund applied research which will fund more charities.

  11. DHANANJAY T DESAI = BHARATBHAI He tried to run away from college at 17 to serve lepers at Dr Patwardhan’s Amravati ashram. Advised to serve parents first, he renounced a brilliant C.A. career at age 47 to serve tribals, run RNC Free Eye Hospital and a fine blood bank in Valsad, run hospitals and schools and give free accounting advice to NGOs. An amazing 66 yr old doer !

  12. JOSE JOSEPH, KOCHI: CLEANCITY.IN • Many citizens take waste-mgt initiatives in their apartment, street or ward. • Jose has merged technology and social engg to divert 30 tons a day of Kochi waste from open dumping through decentralised composting in terrace biobins for 30,000 families with CREDAI help. Mfg fibreglass biobins and biogas units for home to bulk use.

  13. P PARTHASARATHY: E-PARISARAA • A chemical engineer and electrochemical expert who has pioneered simple eco-friendly responsible E-waste recycling in India. • Can supply eqpt for safe recycling of high-mercury tube-lights, no-burn stripping of PVC from copper cables etc. PERSES BILIMORIA : EARTHSOUL Promoting fully-compostable plastic since 11 years. Is far ahead of the time for India.

  14. TUSHAR SHAH : DAMANGANGA GROUP Dedicated one of his four paper mills at Vapi, Gujarat to the recycling of used Tetrapaks : Its paper for wood-pulp, waste plastic+Al foil For wonderful corrugated roofing sheets, 3o C cooler than AC sheets. • Now producing similar unbreakable roofing from unwanted post-consumer plastic waste

  15. C R ALIMCHANDANI :STUP CONSULTANTS • Studied in Paris under Freysinnet and brought Pre-Stressed Concrete knowhow to India in 1960s. • All structural designs driven by the desire to save the nation’s scarce resources through large savings in concrete and steel. • World class : tallest cooling towers, longest spans, nuclear domes copied world over, slimmest flyover piers to save road space…

  16. SREERAM : CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER Built scores of schools and hospitals in Africa for Aid Agencies without fired brick. Rushed to India to construct durable homes for Tsunami-affected in 2004 Saved church tower of 150yr St Andrews’, Blr Built India’s largest rammed-earth structure: 19,000 sft G+2 15-room wing for us at Tanisandra Govt High School in Bangalore.

  17. RAMESH KACHOLIA + NIMESH SUMATI: CARING FRIENDS • Two businessmen who travel widely to evaluate NGO work in the field and bring outstanding performers to the notice of donors in search of genuine groups through monthly presentations by one of 30 NGOs, in Mumbai. Totally informal work. E.g. NASEEMA DIDI’s HELPERS OF THE HANDICAPPED AT KOLHAPUR & KUDAL A paraplegic running two hostels, school, workshop and cashew factory for the severely disabled. See www.hohk.org

  18. R S HIREMATH : FLEXITRON, BLR • Hugely innovative entrepreneur with deep concern for disabled and poor : Solar rechargers for hearing aid batteries Disability aids and systems Electric wheelchairs and bicycle retrofit kits Bicycle-operated mobile charging bank E-Charkha for hand-spinners to get LED light, mobile charging and small radio. Wide range of LEDs for AC or solar power

  19. DR RANGA : THRIVE ENERGY TECH. Farmer’s son, discouraged from higher studies Did MBA, Ph D, Harvard 2 yrs, worked in World Bank etc, taught 8 yrs at ASCI, started NGO to distribute solar LED lights to remote poor. Started own solar LED lighting company to ensure quality and field maintenance training Upto 50% own subsidy for NGOs, SHGs, poorest Encourages assembly of most affordable lighting for local employment generation Dream: Rs 1000 cr Co, 1 million lights, no dark village. See www.onechildonelight.org www.thriveenergy.co.in

  20. Y O U ! • Each of you can be the next big dreamer and doer. • I await the day when Rashmi Bansal, who wrote Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish about IIMA achievers, writes a collection on Sadhana’s achievers too.

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