Speak up: Capital city dotted with garbage needs to start waste segregation soon

Heaps of garbage piled up on the side of the road and fires from landfills polluting the air are now practically a permanent feature of the national capital, posing grave health risks to residents. As the  waste management policy is not strictly followed, both the environment and the public are at risk. The Delhi government and the BJP-run municipal corporations have so far failed miserably at making Delhi a garbage-free city.

Environmental and waste management experts say the only solution is segregation of waste so that it can be recycled and/or processed.

Delhi generates over 9,600 metric tonnes of waste every day. As the city ran out of space for landfill sites, the corporations was expected to come up with modern means of doing away with the waste.

The BJP – which recently won a third term in the North, South and East corporations – has ruled the MCD for over a decade. The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), with a large number of unauthorised colonies, has the largest problem of garbage being dumped on streets.

The central government’s Solid Waste Management (SWM) 2016 policy has still not been implemented in the city. While the SWM rules make segregation of waste at source – households, offices, restaurants, et al – mandatory, the local civic bodies in the city do not have any mechanism in place to implement the same.

According to the policy, waste must be segregated at least in three categories --- dry, wet and electronic waste.

The policy was notified last year under which all states had to submit their action plan to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

According to officials, only 15 states have submitted their plans; Delhi is not one of them.

Let along setting up a system for waste segregation, Delhi’s municipal corporations, which are responsible for implementing the policy, have been laggards in creating awareness about it.

The city saw toxic levels of air pollution last year, according to a Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study, which estimated that 10 per cent of it was on account of landfill fires.

Pulling up the municipal bodies, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) – which banned the use of plastic bags –recently said that there was no “clear map” ready with the civic bodies.

EXPERT SPEAK

The capital city has still not implemented the SWM rules 2016. The rules had to be backed up and implemented by the municipal bodies by starting awareness drives and giving incentives to people for segregating waste. The MCDs are still investing 70% of their revenue in garbage collection and transporting it to landfill sites. If the waste is not segregated, even if it goes to waste to energy plants, it releases toxic fumes resulting in air pollution.”
—Swati Singh Sambyal, program manager (waste management), CSE

We have not even started the basic concept of waste segregation here. The local bodies have to make segregation mandatory, else all efforts at waste management will eventually fail. There is no or little awareness about the issue in the capital. Cities such as Bangalore and Mysore have ‘two bin and one bag’ policy for waste segregation, which top the ranks in cleanliness while the capital has not even made a start at this front. The government needs to push the agenda.”
—Chitra Mukherjee, Head of programs, Chintan, an NGO working on environmental issues

ACTION PLAN

• The policy was notified last year under which all states had to submit their action plan to the CPCB.
   
• According to officials, only 15 states have submitted their plans; Delhi is not one of them.

 “While the garbage is collected every day, the problem is of dumping. Even as the MCD trucks collect the waste from the dumping yard of the colony, stray animals lift the garbage from the open area to the streets. At times till the garbage van comes, the place remain stinking posing a health risk to residents.”
—Saurabh Bhadwar, resident of Model Town

 “The garbage dumping yards are not cleaned every day. At times, the MCD does not even lift the garbage from the area for days at a stretch leading to garbage spilling all over the roads. It is too close to the colony, and the stink is unbearable.”
—Shanta Devi, resident of Patparganj
 
 “I live near the Tihar Jail complex. Here the RWAs have set up garbage bins separately at all street corners. The problem at times lies with pet owners taking their dogs to the parks while leaving the poop there, which can give rise to diseases.”
—Mahadevan B Iyer, resident of Tilak Nagar
 
  “My house is on Badhkhal Pali road. The stretch on both sides of the road are dumping grounds. Mounds of garbage lie here daily. A few days back I had seen a crane working over there, they leveled it bit but left the work midway.”
—Archana B Dogra, resident, Faridabad