DLR Prerna
" promoting peoples participation, gender equality and
living in harmony
with the environment "
Tel: +91 354 2255894 | Mail: dlrprerna@yahoo.com, darjeelingprerna@gmail.com
DLR Prerna " promoting peoples participation, gender equality and
living in harmony
with the environment "
DEE promotes responsibility, empathy and action on issues of development and environment especially with regard to the Darjeeling Hills. It promotes the interdependence of socio-ecological systems as well as stewardship of communities and institutions.
DEE is facilitated with teachers, students and representatives of Community Based Organisations. The facilitation is focused on socio-ecological analysis, participatory leadership, effective communication and participatory planning and action tools as a means of widening world view and creating a critical mass of leaders. The software input is contextualised to specific issues pertinent to the area, institution or community. This initial base is expanded within the institution as well as promoting linkages and solidarity support to each other. DEE also enables us to promote linkage between our rural and urban programmes.
The focus of the programmes is on individual, family, community and institutional responsibilities towards a sustainable and equitable socio-ecological system.
Besides larger developmental and environmental issues, the programme continues to concentrate on existing programmes - the Campaign for the Judicious use of Plastics and Solid Waste Management. The solid waste management can be summarised as segregation and storage of waste at source, recycling of recyclables, composting of organic waste, judicious use of non-recyclables and toxic waste. It also has a livelihoods component of community collection, treatment, recycling and building linkages.
Conserve Water, Reduce your Waste
Darjeeling is the only hill district in the state of West Bengal thus bringing unique developmental challenges of regional marginalization. The hills are endowed with rich natural resources and is part of the Eastern Himalayas which is a designated world bio-diversity hotspot. It is famous for its tea, timber and tourism.
In such a scenic backdrop, the Darjeeling Hills is yet to wake up to the challenges of changing waste types as well as increasing quantum of waste. In the Darjeeling Municipality, at the official dumping site, the Dumping Chute, 30 to 45 metric tones of solid waste is dumped everyday depending on whether it is the tourist season or not. The solid waste management adopted is partial segregation, recycling and street collection and then rolling it down the Dumping Chute or any close-by water way. This has created visible and invisible hazards of smell, leaching, release of toxic gases on burning by the waste openly dumped. One can visibly see the increase in number of stray dogs and flies in the town.
In this scenario, DLR Prerna, proposes to pilot a community solid waste management initiative based on individual responsibility, primary segregation, family or community composting, community collection and linkage for further treatment and recycling. This will be done through community mobilization processes, awareness and capacity enhancement programmes.
DLR Prerna works with the Darjeeling Municipalty and community based organizations on solid waste management.
DLR Prerna is also partnering with Toxics Link and Nokia and NGOs of Darjeeling to bring about awareness on electronic waste with educational institutions