Two aspiring women entrepreneurs from Srinagar have developed a smart dustbin that can convert waste material into manure.
Asfa Shah, and Alkubra Nusaiba, both 23, have come up with an innovation of smart dustbin, an idea which won them first position having a cash prize of Rs 50,000 at the culmination ceremony of 19-day Start-up Yatra J&K 2018 at Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) recently.
After realising the need to have a dustbin for waste disposal and its management, the two girls who both hail from Chanpora area of Srinagar started to work on the project from past two and a half month and named it ‘smart dustbin’.
“Residents in Valley face lot of problems in waste management which is one of the most important things in today’s world,” said Asfa.
She said the dustbin not only manages the garbage but converts it into manure.
Asfa and Alkubra say smart dustbin is fitted with solar panels for power generation which helps run machinery that converts water material into manure.
The duo, currently in 8th semester of their B. Tech course in SSM College, said manure produced from the waste material will help people in farming practices in Kashmir.
In order to complete the project, they had to put lot of efforts and would go home late at 9:00 pm.
“When we started our project many people gave us good response but some people also pointed out mistakes which helped us learn more,” said Asfa.
Alkubra said it was very difficult “but they succeeded and are happy that they made their parents proud”.
“Our parents were always supportive and gave us the opportunity in making the project,” Nusaiba said.
Asfa said they just made the prototype and will now try to commercialize it.
“We will also see the response of the people about our project in our valley,” she said.
The Better Kashmir salutes the spirit of valley youth and their Innovative Skills.
