Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar aims to rid Ahmedabad of litter

AHMEDABAD: Litter may soon be a thing of the past in the city. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has roped in students of Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) to work toward finding out-of-the-box solutions for a litter-free Ahmedabad.
AMC launched 'Litter-Free Ahmedabad Student Challenge' for IITians under the mentorship of professionals from AMC and Urban Management Centre as well as the design community and IIT-Gn faculty members.
Around 15 students accepted the challenge and started with a field visit to various plants, dumping sites, landfill sites and various other places run by AMC, in order to better understand how AMC treats 4,000 metric tonnes of solid waste every day, and why awareness among citizens is needed.
The group was first taken to the health department of the Vatva zone, where they were introduced to litter management. The zero-litter challenge aims to encourage students to think out-of-the-box and design simple product solutions that can eliminate litter from city streets. "The trip helped us understand critical issues and future developments in Ahmedabad. It was nice to see AMC's plans and strategies to process solid waste," said Akshay Jain, student secretary at the institute.
Another student, Shreyans Nahar, said "We produce about 4,000 tonnes of waste every day in Ahmedabad, which at present, cannot be recycled to the fullest extent. Therefore, the zero-litter aim will make our city the cleanest and most hygienic, and an example for other cities." Students have started working to try and come up with solutions for better management and public awareness.
Dinesh Korjan, adjunct faculty, IIT-Gn, said, "Even though the systems look like a mess, it takes a lot of effort by the AMC to process the huge amounts of waste generated by the people of Ahmedabad."