Waste Mismanagement: An open secret

GujaratThe stained working of textile industries in Surat. The water intensive process of dyeing not only sponges the surrounding area dry but spits back its rainbow hued waste to further contaminate the water supply(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

MaharashtraEmptied waste drums.stacked wall to wall.They began life as containers of industrial waste. Now they will begin anew as water storage cans for the residents of Dharavi and other street vendors of Mumbai(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

GujaratPollution unlimited: Little wonder Amla Khadi is the most contaminated tributary of Narmada. Industries close to it in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, dump their waste directly into the river. They do not bother with the effluent treatment plant running in the vicinity. Since, old habits die hard(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

MaharashtraReuse, reduce and recycle? The inchoate mess at Mahim Junction, a sea creek in Mumbai does not remember where it came from or what it is made of. It all lies there, rotting vegetable peels to discarded computers while soil and water slowly degrade(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

GujaratBlack smoke from an incineration plant overlooking a TDSF site in Gujarat, wafts into the horizon. Built on subsidized land, both the disposal and management of waste at such joint facilities is ad-hoc and unregulated. If the waste was being incinerated at the right temperature, the chimney wouldn't have been spewing black smoke — a blatant violation of rules(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

GujaratRecycling of waste is a profitable business and it also keeps the cans from clogging landfills. But the site is poorly managed. Residue trickles down from waste storage cans to form toxic pools in a scrapyard in Surat(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

GujaratFilled to the brim. The monsoons are on and the waste dump has been covered with plastic sheets to prevent a toxic runoff. Leachate from the landfills contaminates the soil, the long term effects of which are yet to be studied(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

GujaratTextile industries in Surat belch smoke in total disregard of the pollution board regulations. But residents do not protest because these industries are a major source of employment(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)

Gujarat70 year old Ismail made the mistake of telling the media about his breathing problems, a consequence of living in an industrially polluted area. He took no names but BIEL soon slapped a notice on him, saying that he actually suffered from a heart problem and was misleading the public.(Photographs by Ravleen Kaur and Meeta Ahlawat)