Taking serious note of illegal storage and recycling of e-waste and hazardous waste in Seemapuri and Mandoli areas in Trans-Yamuna, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has directed Delhi Government’s watchdog Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to take stringent action against illegal units. Strangely, neither DPCC nor East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) has any details regarding these illegal storage and recycling units running in Seemapuri and Mandoli areas.
“Directions are hereby issued to you to ensure immediate closure of all illegal and unauthorised collection, storage and recycling units operating in Seemapuri and Mandoli areas. Such units should not be permitted to operate unless they comply with the provisions of Hazardous Waste Management (HWM) Rules,” said CPCB chairman Susheel Kumar in his letter to DPCC. The CPCB has also sought an action taken report (ATR) within 15 days in this regard.
“The DPCC is required to ensure that no collection, storage, dismantling/recycling of e-waste and lead scrap be carried out as per the provisions of HWM Rules, 2008,” the letter said.
On the other hand, the officials of DPCC are tightlipped as they have no such record regarding illegal collection, storage and recycling of e-waste and lead scrap that is hazardous to health. “We are going to write to the civic bodies if they have any data or records in this regard. The DPCC is also planning to conduct field survey to get exact assessment of these units,” said officials on condition of anonymity.
The national Capital is emerging as the world’s dumping ground for electronic waste, with hazardous activities likely to generate e-waste of 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) per annum by 2015 from the current level of 30,000 metric tonnes per annum, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25 per cent, according to an Assocham estimate.
The Assocham latest study on ‘E-waste in India by 2015’ revealed that currently e-waste of Delhi is approximately 30,000 metric tonnes per annum and employs more than 1.5 lakh workers in the city’s various organised and unorganised recycling units,
“Storing e-waste is a huge risk. Unskilled labourers handling the dismantling work are exposed to several chemicals that are present in electronic goods. Also, e-waste recycling was an unorganised business and the Government is unsure if all units have actually moved out. In recycling, the men work in small, closed units and constantly inhale toxic fumes that are emitted when they burn the waste,” said an NGO worker.
Delhi’s status as the capital, and its good transport links to all parts of the country, reportedly make it an ideal site for waste collection. A large number of towns and villages around Delhi have several hundred of small units treating waste, and ample cheap migrant labour to process it. The Assocham report further mentioned that Delhi alone gets around 85 per cent of the electronic waste generated in the developed world.
In terms of total e-waste produced internally or brought from outside for recycling,
Delhi’s e-waste weighs between 25,000 metric tonnes and 30,000 metric tonnes per year.