Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Wednesday, 17 August 2016

Congratulations , BJP ! ( - in this case , Shri B J Pawar )


Congratulations , BJP ! ( - in this case , Shri B J Pawar )

Hindustan Times ( 15 Aug 2016 ) carries a news report , titled :
" Housing Societies that go green , to get rebate on property tax "

The report is about BMC ( Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai ) announcing a discount ( in the property tax ), to bring down the load on over-burdened landfills
Mr B J Pawar ( Deputy Municipal Commissioner ) is quoted as :
"  The rebate will depend on how the Societies have reduced the three-step work of the Civic body i.e. collection , transportation and disposal of waste "

Under the Scheme , if a Society segregates waste into wet and dry , processes it through composting or any other method , has reduced its energy consumption by using solar panels , uses grey water and has in turn reduced its consumption of potable water , will get the discount ( which , according to a TV Channel news last evening , would range from 10 % to a max of 20 % )

India's policy makers have started to listen to - and implement suggestions given by ordinary citizens !
Thank you , Shri Pawar !

PROOF  ?
My following blog / email sent to all concerned ( Central / State Ministers / BMC Officers etc ) :
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Wednesday, 27 April 2016


Incentivize Housing Societies




Disposal of garbage ( wet and dry ), is a big problem for all Municipalities


In Mumbai , it is a daily 8,000 ton problem


Despite a large fleet of garbage collection trucks and thousands of municipal employees ( including employees of contractors ), streets remain littered and garbage dumps keep overflowing ( when not burning ! )


All kinds of solutions have been attempted in the past to solve this problem, without much success


This is because current perception of the garbage generating households ( and of the office bearers of the housing societies ) , is :

 *  Garbage collection / disposal is Municipality's responsibility


This problem will persist till we succeed in changing this perception to :

*  Garbage disposal is our responsibility "


This change of attitude can be brought about by " Incentivizing " the members of the Housing Societies


HERE  IS  HOW  :


The society where I live ( Marol / Mumbai ) has 200 Members ( flats )


Each member pays monthly Municipal Tax of ( approx ) , Rs 600


That translates to Rs 1.2 lakh per month ( Rs 14.4 lakh / year )


In 5 years , Society pays to Municipality, Rs 72 lakhs


Govt / Municipality to make it compulsory for each big society ( size to be
    decided ), to install on its premises :


    #  Methane gas generating plant or Compost Fertilizer plant

         (  to take care of wet / organic garbage )


    #   Water recycling plant ( to filter and reuse water from shower / wash
          basin / kitchen sink for toilet flushing purpose )


    #   A Compacting Press for dry waste ( paper / bags / cartons etc )


*   Towards installation of such plants , Municipality to give a discount of
     25 % to the Society in monthly taxes , for a period of 5 years


     That is a rebate of Rs 150 / month / flat for 5 years


     This would work out to a saving of Rs 18 lakh ( 25 % of Rs 72 lakh )



*   This amount should be sufficient for the Society to invest in these plants
     and for paying wages for persons needed to look after their operations



I believe such a positive incentive will motivate most of the Societies to undertake to install such facilities


As a negative incentive , Govt / Municipality should levy additional surcharge of 25 % on the monthly taxes ( ie raise to Rs 750 / month in our case ) to those societies which fail to implement this scheme within ONE YEAR of notification


It is high time citizens are involved and motivated ( through negative as well as positive incentives ) in keeping their cities clean and its environment pleasant


I am sure such an experiment will find a far better response from the public as compared to the ODD-EVEN scheme of Delhi ( which too will succeed when Delhi-ites find plenty of Public Transport )


Incidentally , Shri Arvind Kejriwal and his team should study ( without sending a delegation abroad ! ),

*  " Share - a - Bike " taxi scheme ( BIXI )

which has successfully solved the traffic congestion problem in Montreal ( Canada )


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17  Aug  2016






hemen  parekh


Marol , Mumbai , India


( M ) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08


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