On 6 October, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation ordered its gazetted officers to process biodegradable waste in compost pits at their homes. 

I believe no other municipal body in India has issued such an order, and its logic is simple: waste separated at the source never reaches Achan Syedpora, the city’s only landfill. 

The Commissioner who signed it, Fazlul Haseeb, was transferred the next day in a reshuffle of IAS officers in Jammu and Kashmir.

I know how long this idea waited, because I spent years pressing it. 

In 2018, I placed home composting before the High Court, where Chief Justice Geeta Mittal directed the government to hear our suggestions and present a response to the Chief Secretary. 

Video: Home Composting Made Mandatory in Srinagar

SMC Makes Home Composting Mandatory for Gazetted Officers

On 17 December that year, a delegation of the Environmental Policy Group, led by the late Syed Nasarullah, Dr M M Shuja and me, met B V R Subramanium in Jammu. We proposed mandatory composting in Jammu and Srinagar for households with 7 marla or more around the house. 

The authorities dropped the proposal once the Chief Secretary was transferred. 

Eight years later, the same idea has finally been put into action, only for its........

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