Several non-gonernmental organisations are showing the way to handle this problem
Garbage: Your Problem
There is just too much of it. And all of us contribute liberally every day. But what if the ragpicker doesn't come one day? What if the garbage-collecting truck doesn't arrive? What if... While most of us cover our noses with our handkerchiefs and look the other way, the estimated 30 million tonnes of solid waste that urban India produces each year is creating mountains of problems. And like the mythical Sisyphus, municipalities are failing miserably, victims of the all-too-familiar bureaucratic impotence. The result is there for all to see in urban India. Yet several non-governmental organisations are showing the way to handle the problem. They are increasingly coming up with solutions that have eluded our policymakers for decades. There is one element common to all the novel approaches: garbage is seen not as a problem but as a resource. And this involves a change in the urban Indian mindset. Down to Earth looks at what it takes to think garbage
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A Heap Of A Problem
Thirty two-year-old Mannoj Ahuja has been living in Janakpuri colony in west Delhi for the last eleven years. He is part of a group of residents who literally live in a lane overflowing with garbage. The stench of rotting wastes and stray dogs rummaging through them, their bodies sullied with muck, serves as a constant reminder of the helplessness of their situation. The problem is so acute that they have even started taking another, longer route to access the main road.
This is a common sight in many residential colonies. If nothing else, Indian cities have a striking similarity when it comes to heaps of garbage and overflowing bins - a sign of the municipalities' inefficiency in managing soild waste.
Solid waste management (swm) involves managing activities associated with generation, collection, transport and disposal of solid waste in an environmentally-compatible manner, adopting principles of economy, aesthetics, energy and conservation. But that the Urban Local Bodies, the official managers of solid waste, are not doing their job is apparent.
With the country's population set to cross the one billion mark, coupled with unplanned development and urbanisation, one thing is for certain - an enormous amount of waste is going to be generated. The situation is no better at present. The urban population was 217 million in 1991 and the total quantity of solid waste generated in urban areas was estimated at 20.71 million tonnes per year. This is expected to cross 56 million tonnes by 2011. Says Iqbal Malik, director, Vatavaran, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation (ngo) involved waste management wastes, "In the 1980s, a family's weekly garbage production used to be about 7 kg. Now it is 20-30 kg."
The per capita waste generation in urban areas also varies according to the size of the population. In urban areas with a population less than 0.1 million people, the per capita waste generated is 0.21 kg per day, while in areas with a population of more than 5 million people, it goes up to 0.5 kg per day, says a study by the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI),
According to a Central Pollution Control Board survey, the total quantity of solid waste generated by 23 large cities in the country is of the order of 30,058 tonnes per day (tpd). Mumbai generates the maximum with 5,335 tpd and Vishakapatnam with the least at 300 tpd (see table: Metro mess). "The composition of garbage has also changed over the years," says Malik. "We now have the culture of using disposable articles, which we can use and throw away. Thus, there is every kind of waste and this has added to the problems," she adds (see box: Waste content).
The problem of solid wastes, however, is not just limited to large cities. It has also seeped into small towns. The once-beautiful towns of Shimla, Jaipur and Bangalore have open bins and overloaded dumpyards in plenty. Says H V Ganla, who has been practising waste management techniques in his nursing home in Pune, "In large cities, we have some sort of knowledge regarding waste management. This is totally missing in small towns or peri-urban areas."
SWM services, especially to poor communities, is deplorable. "In most urban areas, the services have not been structured to cover urban slum encroachments. They are thus left to themselves," says the June 30, 1998 Interim Report filed by the Barman Committee instituted by the Supreme Court. The committee was set up to look into the aspects of swm in urban areas following a public interest litigation filed by Almitra H Patel of Bangalore. A neeri study also pointed out that municipal agencies spend about 5 to 30 per cent of their budget on swm but serve only a portion of the urban populace.
The management of solid waste is an obligatory duty of municipal bodies but they have failed to make adequate provisions. "Solid waste is handled, transported and disposed of in an absolutely unscientific manner. Nowhere is 100 per cent of the waste collected," says A K Saxena, director (environment), National Productivity Council, New Delhi.
"The apathy of the decision-makers is primarily responsible for the poor level of SWM services in the urban areas," concludes the report.
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Bogged Down
Why have municipalities failed?
There is no dearth of ways and means to dispose of waste, yet many people in India live in and around pig stys. From time to time, studies have been carried out, and recommendations have been made to solve the problem of swm. Some of the shortcomings of the swm system in the country are:
- INSTITUTIONAL DEFICIENCIES: Though urban local bodies are responsible for SWM, there is no system of accountability. "In the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, there are about 46,000 swm workers. Only 33,000 are available in the field. The rest serve as domestic servants at the residences of politicians. The absentee rate is 25 per cent. They also do private work, like collection of kuda (garbage). The sanitary inspector, who supervises them, knows about it but he takes money from the worker and marks him present," says Uppal.
The division of responsibility among the various sections in the SWM department is also not well defined. For instance, in most cities, the road section of the engineering department removes construction waste/debris and the drainage section looks after silt removal. Coordination between the two units is often seen lacking. As a result the city generally looks dirty.
- PRODUCTIVITY OF SWM STAFF: In the absence of work norms and effective monitoring systems, the productivity of labour and equipment is very low. The Interim Report cites work-distribution and lack of supervision as the main reasons. However, says Uppal, "The mismanagement is also due to lack of expertise. Municipal health officers do not have
any expertise in the science of swm. They then pass on the work to sanitation officers, who are even worse."
- FINANCIAL ASPECTS: swm service has never caught the attention of decision-makers. It is no surprise, therefore, that it suffers from an acute lack of funds. Says Uppal, "We suffer because of lack of funds." But whatever it gets is also not utilised optimally. Rampant corruption is eating into the swm system. For instance, estimates place the cost of garbage collection by the mcd at Rs 620 per tonne, but the real costs have been acknowledged to be only between Rs 340-400 per tonne, a reduction of approximately 35-40 per cent.
The public response
There is no single factor responsible for waste mismanagement. While the pathetic effort by municipalities is a major reason, public apathy towards the management of wastes is another. Says Lata Shikhande of Pune, whose name is synonymous with roof-top gardening: "We sever all ties with waste once it becomes useless. Garbage strewn all over residential and market areas shows the attitude of the people towards waste."
There are other examples to highlight the nuisance the public creates, says Sultan A Ismail, a well-known vermiculture (use of earthworms to convert organic waste to compost) expert in Chennai. "There are collection points from where the municipalities pick up garbage at a specific time, for instance, 7 am. However, an hour later, heaps of garbage are visible again. People throw it at their own convenience," he says.
This calls for raising awareness among the people about the ill-effects of improper swm practices. Says A K Saxena of npc, "There has to be a major education drive on the lines of an election campaign. ngos should also be involved." Adds Uppal, "Most of the garbage generated in India is kitchen waste. So a very important thing is to involve people, teach them segregation at source and also minimisation of waste. Without their involvement, you can't do miracles." However, he adds, "People are ready to cooperate. It is the municipality that does not facilitate participation of the people."
"The problem," says Ismail, "is that the approach of the municipalities has always been top-down. They have never looked at the problem from a grassroots level." Malik also finds a serious problem with the functioning of civic bodies.
"The government system is highly centralised and that is the crux of the whole problem. They never try to involve the communities," she says, adding, "They look at garbage management as their domain and are not keen to let others near it. Moreover, the present management system is haphazard, non-scientific and not ecofriendly."
Just as communities are excluded in swm, the ragpickers, another very important link in the chain, are a neglected lot (see box: Left picking wastes).
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