Gorai experiment
Bio-mining at Gorai was done under S R Maley of Mumbai-based Eco Save Systems (P) Ltd. He had been appointed by the Supreme Court as an expert in the Inter-Ministerial Task Force Committee for Mumbai's composting project in 2005. Explaining the method devised for the Gorai project, Maley says, "First, the heap of garbage is sprayed with a dilute herbal sanitiser called Biokleen, which is an eco-friendly mix of substances including citronella oil. Leaving this untouched for about a week reduces dust, odour, flies and mosquitoes. The heap is then raked with a tractor, bringing plastic, rubber and textiles to the surface so that they can be picked out and sent for recycling. The remaining biomass is mostly degradable. This is then laid out to dry in rows after adding the bioculture Rapidcom, an inoculum of bacteria that breaks down the cellulose and proteins present in the waste. The rows remain in the open for about three weeks and are turned every week to ensure proper aeration and rapid decomposition. The temperature in the rows reaches 65