Pot Luck

The concept can be applied to garden beds too. Dipika Chordia,who works as the organic soil specialist,says,”We first visit the place where the terrace garden or the pots have to be set up and take measurements. Then,according to the plants and the crops that the person wishes to plant,we create the pots and the organic soil.” In an effort to generate rural employment,the saplings are first grown at farms in Velhe,where the villagers are assigned to look after them. They are transferred to the pots or the garden beds once ready. Chuttar says that water conservation is the biggest advantage. “There is a small spout attached to the pot through which you fill the tank in the pot. This water stays in the plant for at least one week. One of the major reasons why plants in urban houses die is because of the fact that most people do not know how to water the plant,” he says. “They over-water them so the nutrients are washed out,or they under-water them due to which the soil becomes hard and the plant withers away. These problems are all eliminated through this method.”

One often needs to go back to nature to find solutions to these problems that are unique to the cities,Chuttar feels. “The reason we created an economically viable model was because all of us got into this full time. But we also helped the villagers in Velhe by employing them full time in the project,” he says.