Disaster waste management plan urgently needed as multiple floods submerge Manipur

The northeastern states of India has been under severe strain due to floods. This year, unprecedented large-scale floods have occurred in Manipur and Tripura, in addition to Assam, where floods occur annually. With changing rainfall patterns, rapid urbanisation, deforestation, and climate change in the region, the susceptibility to disasters such as floods is likely to increase in the coming years. Many have remarked that the recent and ongoing floods in Manipur and Tripura are among the worst of their kind.

In Manipur, the floods began as an aftermath of Cyclone Remal, which struck the Indian subcontinent in May. The first wave of flooding primarily affected Imphal East, Imphal West, and Kangpokpi districts. As of May 31, 2024, it was reported that a total of 188,143 people had been affected, with at least 24,265 houses damaged, 18,103 people evacuated, and 56 relief camps established due to the floods.

Less than a month later, another severe flood occurred as incessant rain caused the overflow of major rivers like Thoubal and Iril. By the first week of August, another wave of floods struck Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts, rendering internally displaced people (those displaced due to the 16-month-long ethnic conflict in the state) homeless once again. A few weeks later, Thoubal and Kakching districts were also affected by the latest round of floods. In Thoubal District alone, more than 1,000 flood-affected individuals are currently sheltered in 11 relief camps. The fear of further flooding in Manipur persists until the end of the monsoon season.

Residues of disasters

After any natural or human-made disaster, depending on the built environment where it occurred, residual “disaster waste” is produced. Debris and waste generated after floods, landslides, earthquakes, fires, etc, are thus termed disaster waste. Its presence affects every aspect of emergency response and recovery efforts. If not cleared promptly, it can become a breeding ground for vectors and poses a potential public health risk.

The discourse on disaster waste management remains one of the most overlooked subjects. Handling disaster waste requires scientific management and technical expertise. Global experiences suggest that Disaster Waste Management Plans seldom exist. Similarly, Manipur, and India overall, lack such a plan.

As the intensity and frequency of natural hazardous events such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, and cyclones are evidently increasing worldwide, the Indian subcontinent is no exception. In light of the growing occurrence of disasters, the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), after consultative meetings and a thorough literature review of global experiences in handling waste post-disaster, released a report in 2023.

The report, titled Solid Waste Management in Post-Disaster Situations 2023, highlighted the need for a pre-disaster solid waste contingency plan and a post-disaster solid waste management implementation plan. It outlines immediate, short-, medium-, and long-term plans to handle disaster waste rather than the usual reactive and ad-hoc measures taken after a disaster.

An “institutionalised proactive approach” by setting up proper institutional mechanisms, along with contingency planning and emergency support functions, is suggested by the report, emphasising the urgent need for developing a ‘Disaster Waste Management Plan’ and its implementation machinery.

The experience of handling post-flood waste in Manipur signals a similar need for an integrated disaster waste management plan.

Experiences of handling disaster waste in Manipur floods

The Imphal Municipal Council (IMC), along with its partner non-governmental organisations (NGO) and women’s self-help groups, regularly collects municipal and solid waste from 27 urban local bodies (comprising 305 wards) and dumps it at the Lamdeng waste-to-energy (WTE) plant on the outskirts of Imphal West.

The Lamdeng WTE was planned to process 100 metric tonnes (MT) every day. However, “IMC alone collects an average of 110-120 MT per day,” said Peter Yumnam, assistant municipal commissioner. Although a proper collection mechanism exists, there is a lack of processing capacity for the waste collected daily.

A report accessed by this author revealed that 2,386.995 metric tonnes of waste were collected by IMC alone during the first phase of the floods, from June 1 to 11. Normally, IMC issues 320 litres of diesel daily for its machinery operations; however, during this 11-day span of intensive clean-up, it issued almost 6,000 litres of oil. The post-flood disaster waste profile includes vegetative waste, plastics, mattresses, clothes, food packets, sludge, etc.

“Loading had to be done using excavators as the disaster waste was wet, heavy, and contained all sorts of hazardous materials. We had to continue this clean-up for almost two months since June with no additional support,” Yumnam added. The report further noted that the Lamdeng Solid Waste Management Plant saw a 2.5 to 3-fold increase in the waste received.

Waste collectors, such as NGOs and women’s self-help groups, were also overwhelmed by the waste collection during the floods. “What normally took one trip to cover was now multiplied to 2-3 trips of collection, and since all the waste was soaked in water, our trucks broke down frequently,” Sananu Rajkumari of Chingmeirong Maning Leikai Nupi Chaokhat Lup told this author.

With increased collection by private entities and the reported 2.5 to 3-fold increase in collection by IMC, the total waste collected and dumped at Lamdeng far exceeds its handling capacity. The accumulation of this disaster waste will likely create a significant amount of legacy waste, which is known to have detrimental effects on both environmental and public health.

Moreover, legacy waste is known to produce greenhouse gases, which are a leading cause of climate change. “It was a very difficult experience handling the disaster waste, and as the likelihood of more disasters increases, a proper plan needs to be laid out,” Yumnam emphasised.

Further, it is concerning that waste collection is mostly limited to urban areas. Consequently, post-flood disaster waste in rural areas, which cover a larger area compared to municipal regions, has been either left to rot, dumped in landfills dug out by the local population, or most likely openly burned.

This article was written under the 5th State-level Media Fellowship Programme on Climate Change, sponsored by the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Manipur government.

Donald Takhell is a media fellow on climate change reporting (2024-25) under Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Manipur government

Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth