MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTES

NATIONAL PLANS FOR MANAGEMENT :
Several attempts are underway to improve better management of municipal solid wastes. Deliberation on administrative, technical, financial and legal issues are being considered for the feasible means of management. Foreign investment in garbage management has been appreciated and modalities on bilateral collaboration with willing countries have been explored. Some of the initiatives taken at national level and efforts made by various ministries at central level are as follows:

National Waste Management Council (NWMC)
NWMC was constituted in 1990 and one of its objectives was municipal solid waste management. The council decided that sample survey be carried out in various cities to find out recyclable material in the municipal waste which is picked up by ragpickers and sold to industrial establishments through contracts (kabariwalas). Financial assistance was provided to 22 municipalities to undertake such survey. They report expected to provide concrete methods to improve solid waste management.

Strategy Paper
The Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment (MoUAE) engaged the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur for formulation of a strategy paper on municipal waste management and also for preparing manual on solid waste management. These documents highlight various critical issues relating to management of solid wastes and have offered number of suggestions for improving the management practices.

Policy Paper
The Central Public Health Environmental Engineering Organization (CPHEEO) of the MoUAE, Government of India has prepared a policy paper on promoting the integrated provisions of water, sanitation, and solid waste management and drainage utilities in India.

Master Plan for MSW
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) organized an interaction meet (March 1995) with municipal authorities and other concerned ministries to evolve a strategy for the management of municipal solid waste. CPCB has also formulated guidelines for the safe disposal of hospital wastes.

FICCI's contribution
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) proposed a background paper on solid waste management in connection with round table organized on 5th June 1995 in New Delhi.

High Powered Committees
A high-powered committee on urban waste was constituted by Government of India during 1975. The committee, in its report made 76 recommendations, covering eight important areas of waste management.

An another high-powered committee was constituted in 1995, under the chairmanship of Prof. J.S. Bajaj, Member, Planning Commission, Government of India. The Committee has given a number of recommendations and some of them are as follows:

  • Segregation of waste at household level should be encouraged and promoted.
  • Primary level of collection should be ensured from each household. Private agencies/NGOs may be involved in primary collection.
  • Monthly charging for door-to-door collection based on income groups may be implemented.
  • The vehicles for transporting solid waste from the transfer point to the disposal site should be of appropriate design, suiting the waste characteristics.
  • Along with land filling, composting of municipal solid wastes should be the next appropriate option.
  • Private participation in setting up pilot plants utilizing appropriate technologies for urban solid waste management should be encouraged.

National Programme on Sanitation and Environmental Hygiene
An interactive workshop, for formulation of national programme on sanitation and environmental hygiene was held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi in April, 1995. Its recommendations are:

  • Source segregation into two receptacles
  • one for putrescible and another for non-putrescible waste from household, shops, establishments, slums and squatter settlements, be done.
  • Wherever, economically viable, door-to-door collection of waste should be encouraged on cost recovery basis. In other areas, smaller bins with two compartments to collect putrescible and non-putrescible garbage should be introduced.
  • All open dustbins, masonry bins, round concrete bottomless bins should gradually be phased out by replacing good mobile community bins.
  • Disposal of solid waste should be done by encouraging composting of waste. Load on sanitary landfill sites should be reduced by filling only inert materials.
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