We must prioritise waste management, especially in cities, as part of the larger sanitation campaign. Unsustainable practices, such as burning waste and dumping garbage into overflowing landfills, are hurting the urban ecology
A recent report submitted to the National Green Tribunal by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, revealed that nearly 76 per cent of all cities in the country indiscriminately dump their solid waste in violation of the rules. This includes even burning the waste in the open.
This information comes even as Indian cities are struggling with increasing population pressures and falling standards of solid waste management. The report brings home the reality of urban solid waste mismanagement and how the ecology of the cities is slowly succumbing to the adverse impacts of its own toxic waste.
The pace of deterioration of the urban ecology under the sheer volume of solid waste has become a subject of research across the world. The University of Minnesota and the Georgia Institute of Technology conducted a study to find a pattern in open burning of garbage in India.
The report focused on Delhi and Agra, and found that 24 per cent of all garbage produced in Agra is burnt in the open, whereas Delhi burnt around 190 to 246 metric tonnes of its 8,390 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste daily.
This unhealthy practice, made worse during winters, exposes the elderly and children to serious risks of asthma and other allergies.
It is critical to ensure that municipal solid waste is handled in a proper manner, in conformity with established norms and global standards. The task is a daunting one, as India generates about 60 million tonnes of garbage every year, with 10 million tonnes being generated in each of the metropolitan cities alone, whose landfill areas are already overflowing, with no space to accommodate any more fresh garbage.
As municipal authorities fail to implement the bio-degradable and non-biodegradable segregation system in solid waste management, all the waste finds its way to landfills.
This state of affairs needs to change urgently. The Government must look for robust alternatives to recycling waste, instead of only increasing landfill space. The latter is already becoming a challenge due to the shortage of real estate in cities.
The existing landfills must be transformed into ‘smart landfills’ that incorporate global waste disposal standards and operate on the latest technology for automated waste segregation. Automation will dispense with human intervention and prevent the indiscriminate burning of waste.
This in turn will also help prevent the release of toxic gases that cause acute respiratory diseases and environmental degradation. Currently, 20 per cent of all methane gas emission in India is attributed to landfills, where smoke and garbage fires are common occurrences.
Besides polluting the atmosphere, these landfills, most of which have not been built according to accepted specifications, also leach into and pollute the groundwater. Indeed, non-adherence to norms during establishment of these landfills has irretrievably compromised the environment.
A recent study by the School of Environmental Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University found high levels of nickel, zinc, arsenic, lead, chromium and other metals in the solid waste at landfills in metros, especially Delhi.
Efficient handling of waste is possible at the point of generation, rather than at the point of collection. The Government must kickstart waste segregation into biodegradable and non-biodegradable matter at the household level, followed by the neighbourhood level.
Financial incentives such as property tax rebates, discounts in water and electricity bills can go a long way in motivating residents to incorporate waste segregation in their daily lives. This will also have a positive impact on children who will learn and appreciate the environmental benefits of waste segregation.
The Government must also send a strong message to municipal authorities regarding the manner in which community waste collection centres are maintained.
These collection centres are eye-sores in the neighbourhood and disease hotspots, more so during the monsoons. Stiff penalties on individual officials concerned with the upkeep of these centres will help in maintaining clean and healthy garbage collection centres.
The infusion of technology into waste management and the inclusion of best practices in recycling have ensured rich dividends for urban communities worldwide — in the form of ultra clean cities that are powered by the energy generated by recycling the same waste. It is time for India to catch up and be counted among the global leaders in waste management.