Delhi, which is the largest municipal solid waste producer in the country, generates over 7,000 metric tonnes of solid wastes every day followed by Mumbai with 6,500 tonnes.
Chief minister Sheila Dikshit today described as a "huge problem" the ever increasing solid wastes in the city and exhorted people to change the "wasteful consumption pattern" to protect the environment of the city.
"The ever increasing garbage and solid wastes have become a huge problem for us. We do not know what to do with the solid wastes. We need to change our lifestyles and try not to generate unnecessary wastes," Dikshit said speaking at a function organised by TERI.
Delhi, which is the largest municipal solid waste producer in the country, generates over 7,000 metric tonnes of solid wastes every day followed by Mumbai with 6,500 tonnes.
"We have become a very wasteful society. We need to change our consumption pattern," she said.
Asking people to care for the environment, Dikshit said "little, little steps" like not wrapping the invitation cards with a plastic cover or not buying things which are absolutely not necessary could make a "big difference" in dealing with the problem of "huge wastes".
"We can even gift a sapling to somebody instead of an expensive gift. If you care for the planet then we can avoid using plastic bags. These are little, little steps which will make a big difference to the environment," she said.
A survey by industry chamber FICCI last year said in the absence of scientific management facilities, most of the cities in India are dumping the wastes in landfill sites.
Director general of TERI and IPCC chief RK Pachauri, speaking on the occasion, said "solid waste has serious implications and if we continue to move on the same path, all the large cities in India would require 10 times their area by 2047 to keep the solid waste."
"We have to start at the household level to classify and segregate the waste and we need a system that each kind of waste can be collected and disposed in the right manner."
On climate change, he said the problem is not about the increasing temperature but it has the potential to "change the entire geography of the planet."
Observing that increasing quantity of solid wastes was a matter of concern, he said "we need to control our consumption pattern if we really care for the planet."
The function was organised as part of 'project Search' undertaken by TERI. It was initiated in June 2009 in 60 schools in Delhi and Bangalore to create awareness and understanding on the linkage between lifestyle, consumption, waste and environment.
The project aims at setting up collection centres in the member schools for the collection of wastes.
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