India's waste problem is serious, says expert
imported mechanised treatment facilities are unlikely to solve India's waste disposal problems but will only serve the interests of the exporting countries, warns the head of the Mumbai-based Indian Environmental Association (iea).
Soli J Arcievala, president, iea, speaking to Down To Earth on a recent visit to Goa, said India's attitude towards industrial wastes is "very casual". "Today, only 30 per cent of the sewages are sewered. Of that, treatment may be given to 10 per cent. Even that is on paper," he pointed out.
Currently, Arcievala is working on strengthening the iea , the year-old association of engineers and specialists with 500 members. It was set up to look after waste water and pollution control issues, and is affiliated to the Water Environment Federation of the us .
Arceivala is chairman emeritus of aic Watson Consultants Limited, Mumbai, a part of the Montgomery Watson group. Taking part in a seminar on environmental infrastructure held in Goa, Arcievala said India needed to bring in "appropriate technology which will work". "In waste treatment, the tendency is to bring in a lot of mechanised treatment facilities. This is good for exporting countries, but not good for maintenance because we are very weak in maintenance. We also cannot afford to pay for electric power or repairs," he explained.
Arcievala stressed the need to use simpler methods. Industry needed to learn how to effectively use technologies like aerated lagoons, constructed wetlands, vermiculture, hyacinth ponds and even the old idea of oxidation ponds, he pointed out. "From the ponds we should be able to recover food," he noted. Recently, his company has designed duck-weed ponds for Pondicherry. Arcievala pointed to Chinese experiments with natural methods, and the upfloor anaerobic sludge blanket, which -- though not completely natural -- requires virtually no mechanisation. Not even electricity.
"The best thing is to have a system which does not require you to generate electric power, because in generating electric power, you are polluting again," he observed. Voicing concern, Arcievala said that India was sharply lacking in its infrastructure.
The aic is the oldest firm working in waste treatment in India. "My main contribution has been use of water and re-cycling, which I have been doing since 1965 when nobody had any rules or regulations over this," he said. Arcievala is optimistic about the iea . Asked about the private sector's involvement in municipal waste management, he said municipal and other regulatory bodies deciding on privatisation plans should be clear about what they want. "If they want good treatment they will get it. If they want to be stupid about it and leave it to some foreigners to decide, then there will be too much of mechanisation which we will never be able to sustain," he said.
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