The picturesque city of Srinagar, known for its serene Dal Lake and lush landscapes, is facing a severe environmental crisis due to unscientific waste disposal practices. A report tabled at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in last few days disclosed that 11,11,685 MTs of waste had been dumped at Achan landfill site in Srinagar. This site of 123 acres has turned into an epitome of waste management problems of the city.
The Legacy Waste Crisis
This involves municipal solid waste which had been disposed in the landfill for a prolong period without being treated. In Srinagar city, the Achan landfill site has been filling for more than three and half decades and receives 450 TPD waste. Currently, waste generation is 600 TPD and will rise to 918.04 TPD in 2028 in the city. From this, only 150 TPD is being processed, implying big gap in waste management.
Pollution Effects and Quality of Life
The improper disposal of waste has deemed great harm and toll on the environment. At the landfill site there is loss of agricultural land, lakes and other water sources. During summer, the stench arising from the location is tangible up to 7-8km away because the wetland body retreating caused pollution to accelerate. This has not only disrupted the natural environment but also it flows with dangerous health effects to the inhabitants of the area.
Community Protests and Legal Actions
The people of the Achan-Saidapora area have been highly vocal objecting the location of the landfill site. They have expressed worry on the impacts that they have on their health as well as the environment as a whole. The NGT has warned the Jammu & Kashmir Pollution Control Committee (JKPCC) regarding the violations and has asked the committee to come up with action plan to address the issue.
Challenges in waste management
Lack of waste processing center remains one of the greatest barriers to waste management in Srinagar city. The current structures are suboptimal to meet the increased flow of waste proceedings. Furthermore, there are idle waste-processing structures within the site to add to the problem list. The effluent discharge from the site is directly entering streams and rivers, violating environmental regulations.
The current waste management state in the world has raised the need to find a sustainable solution to the problem. The NGT has been very clear that the biodegradable waste should be managed by decentralized and community-common composting systems. The city also needs to improve its capability for handling waste through the adoption of new technologies in the management of wastes.
Community participation together with awareness toward the general public will go a long way in influencing good waste disposal practices among the people. Awareness creation, traditions, and programs such as recycling and segregation can decrease the load on those facilities. Also, increased stringency of the environmental laws and fines for violation has better prospects in waste management.
Problems associated with waste disposal in India
Management of wastes is an essential problem area which has profound impact on India and creates serious problems. India being one of the largest populated countries of the world, production of wastes in this country remains relatively high, therefore poses significant threat to environmental and public health. Here are some of the primary problems associated with waste disposal in India:
Lack of appropriate waste management infrastructure
One of the biggest challenges remains the absence of proper waste disposal system. There are large numbers of cities that lie in India, still they do not have appropriate infrastructure associated with waste collection, sorting and disposal. The infrastructure that exists to manage the waste is usually inadequate and physically dilapidated to address the rising amounts of waste.
Example: In Mumbai, the Deonar dumping ground that is one of the biggest and oldest of India’s dump site has often been ravaged by fire due to the pile of untreated waste. This has led to sporadic fires whose effects are severe pollution of the air and health hazardous to the residents.
Inefficient Waste Segregation
Source control is defined as the proper sorting and separation of waste at the point it is generated. But unfortunately it is lacking or implemented very poorly in most areas of India. This results in combined disposal of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes which makes the cycle of sorting the wastes for recycling or further processing complicated.
Example: In Delhi many attempted have been made to target waste segregation, but what is collected is mixed waste that goes to landfills without any processing. Not only does this make the effectiveness of waste management lower, it also adds to the pressure on the landfill.
Overfilled Landfills and Open Dumping
India’s landfill sites are many times overloaded and are not disposed of properly. Most landfills have reached their capacity resulting to open dumping. The open dumping is very risky because it pollutes the soil and water sources, as well as invites diseases spreading pests.
Example: The East Delhi landfill, which is located in Ghazipur, has become an example of very bad management of waste. They have attained a size equal to a 65-meter tall mountain and have become a source of both environmental and health risks to residents of the affected region.
Environmental Pollution
Littering and inadequate management of wastes affect many facets of environmental pollution, such as air, water and soil pollution. Waste combustion particularly plastics releases poisonous gases, fumes and emission into the atmosphere, while liberation of leachate from dump sites pollutes water sources.
Example: What is strange with the Bengaluru city is that people continue to burn garbage in various part of the city. This practice lets out into the atmosphere smogful pollutants that have adverse impacts on the respiratory system of its inhabitants and also on the environmental pollution index of the city.
Health Hazards
Any untreated waste pile up gives diseases a breeding ground hence coverage should not be a victual. It invites rodents and mosquitoes hence diseases like dengue, malaria and cholera are constantly on the rise. Unfortunately, hazards to health are worse off for the waste workers who collect garbage without adequate protection.
Example: Garbage is often picked and sorted by hand on the streets of Kolkata and many workers are at risk of developing different health complications. They lack safety measures and proper equipment in performing their duties, which makes them prone to various infections and chronic diseases.
Lack of awareness and public participation
Waste management research has established that there is no way the objectives can be met without support from the public. Unfortunately, there is a general lack of awareness about the importance of waste segregation and recycling among the Indian populace. Besides, people do not actively engage in municipal waste management programs.
Example: Most residents of Chennai’s residential regions have no knowledge of appropriate waste segregation or do not practice it. This leads to mixed waste being delivered to the municipal authorities many of which bring enhanced challenges in waste management.
Future Outlook
India’s waste disposal challenges are multifaceted, requiring a combination of innovative strategies, community engagement, and robust policy implementation. These areas are important for countering numerous ecological and health problems in the modern world.
Enhancing Infrastructure of Waste Management
Strategy: There is the need to invest in modern waste management solutions such as waste disposal plant, recycling centres or proper scientifically engineered dump sites.
Case Study: Indore’s transition from a city waste disposal problem to one among the clean cities in India is a major example of it. The city also has a door to door collection of wastes, source segregation and establishment of waste to energy. It introduced the idea of including citizens in waste management and became inspired by technology to track the collection.
Promoting Waste Segregation
Strategy: Source segregation is important for increase recycling and efficiency of waste disposal and management. Advertising and promoting the use of separate structures as well as offering encouragements to institutions to embrace this concept can helpful.
Case Study: Efforts to Segregate Waste Bengaluru’s certain efforts in segregation include the campaign called “2Bin1Bag”. This program aims to minimize waste generated by households by sorting them into two bins, a wet bin and a dry bin and one bag of hazardous waste. There are also authorized dry waste collection centres that are meant to collect segregated waste. Such initiatives can only-work when citizens are involved.
Managing Overfilled Landfills
Strategy: There are many recommendations, but the current problem of overfilled landfills can be solved by gaining proper scientific closure of the existing landfills, and science based establishment of proper landfill sites.
Case Study: The Ghazipur landfill in Delhi, notorious for its size and pollution, has seen efforts towards scientific remediation. To treat legacy waste, the Delhi government in partnership with the Central government came up with a concept of bioremediation. The work being proposed is to flatten the landfill and return the waste into a form that can be reused or recycled.
Reducing Environmental Pollution
Strategy: adopting technologies on waste management and efficient policies to check cases of irregular dump and burning of waste present appropriate methods of curbing environmental pollution.
Case Study: Decentralized system of Waste Management in Pune: the waste generated in Pune city has been managed through various decentralized systems where the organic wastes have been converted through bio-methanation plants. These plants transform waste into biogas which is further generated into electricity. It also helps to decrease the quantity of waste going to the landfills and decrease pollution of the natural environment.
Addressing Health Hazards
Strategy: Providing proper protective gear and training for waste workers, along with implementing health and safety regulations, can mitigate health hazards associated with waste disposal.
Case Study: Delhi Safai Sena an organization of waste pickers in Delhi that seeks to overcome poor working conditions of waste collectors. They offer capacitation, personal protection equipment, and support to Defense the rights of waste collectors. It has not only contributed towards safety to workers handling wastes, but also enhanced efficiency of executing waste management activities in the city.
Public awareness
Strategy: improving people’s awareness of how and what to recycle, and how not to waste, is paramount. Efforts to increase community participation may be done through awareness campaign, workshops and incentives.
Case Study: Mumbai’s ‘Plastic Ban’ Campaign: Mumbai’s plastic ban campaign was one of the major awareness creating campaign buttons that known to reduce plastic waste. Local government enforced the ban of such products with assistance from different stakeholders as well as educate the public converted them to other reusable packaging materials. The campaign was able to achieve its goal of minimizing as well as raising awareness concerning plastics wastes as well as encouraging citizen involvement in waste management.