Bhawana Sharma, Pankaj Mehta & Shivendra Verma
Waste generation has been associated with human civilization since times primordial, but with an increasing population, rapid urbanization and industrialization the quantities of waste generation has increased tremendously, Apart from this with the introduction of plastic in mid 19th century the nature along with the composition of waste has changed drastically. Waste can be solid/liquid/gaseous in nature and adequate amount of research is needed for meaningful waste management practices. Solid waste is the discarded, unwanted solid materials generated from human activities from residential, industrial or commercial areas. The various categories of Solid Waste can be grouped into different materials such as vegetable waste, papers, glass, plastics, wood, yard clippings, food waste, radioactive wastes and hazardous waste etc. The term also covers the heterogeneous accumulation of agricultural, industrial, commercial and mineral wastes etc. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) can be defined as the waste which includes all domestic refuse, commercial waste, institutional waste, street sweeping, construction wastes, and sanitation residue which are mainly generated from residential, industrial and commercial complexes. As per the Ministry Of Environment Forest And Climate Change it includes commercial and residential waste generated in municipal or notified areas in either solid or semi-solid form for which effective monitoring and segregation is needed at the source for efficient management and to ascertain the character of the waste for appropriate category i.e. waste to compost or waste to energy for effective waste management practices.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation and Management in Indian scenario: India is an agriculturally based country with a present population of 1.35 billon people and of this about 33 per cent lives in cities. There has been a significant increase in MSW generation in India in the last few decades. MSW management has become a Major Environmental Issue in India. In 1947, cities and towns in India generated an estimated 6 million tonnes of solid waste; in 1997, it was about 48 million tones which increased significantly to 62 million tons per year in 2017-18, with an average generation of 0.11 Kg/ capita/ day to 0.5 Kg/ capita/ day (CPCB 2018). This figure is expected to increase to 300 million tonnes per annum by 2047 (CPCB 2000). It has been observed that the increase in the Annual Waste Generation is directly proportional to an increase in population rate clubbed together with rapid Urbanization and Industrialization, which poses a great challenge for disposing such huge quantities of waste in environmental friendly manner.
Problems caused due to Improper Management of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): Many cities in developing countries faces serious Environmental Degradation and Health Risks due to the non-developed/ under-developed Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management practices / system. Several studies have been conducted in order to examine the health and environmental effects arising from inefficient MSW management System. The conclusion from this and other studies has led to an increasing interest of researchers in the investigations relating to environmental pollution as well as its effects on plants and animals. Few of these studies examined the environmental and health implications of MSW disposal to people living in close proximity of wastes dump-sites. The ever-increasing consumption of resources results in huge amounts of MSW from domestic activities, which poses significant threats to human health. However, the problems of inappropriately disposed MSW are quite numerous to be mentioned. Health deterioration, Accidents, Flood occurrences, and Environmental pressures are just a few of the negative effects. In many developing countries, MSW disposal sites are found on the outskirts of urban areas which becomes the sources of contamination due to the incubation and proliferation of flies, mosquitoes, and rodents, which in turn results in spreading the diseases affecting human health in respect of gastrointestinal, dermatological, respiratory, and several other kind of infectious diseases.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management in Jammu City: Jammu is one of the major cities in UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The city has an area of 240 sq km and is divided into 75 wards which are further grouped into 3 Zones. The division is based on the passing of river Tawi through the center of the corporation area. The northern bank of river Tawi consists of Zone 1 & 2, whereas the southern bank falls under Zone 3. The details of the Zones are given below:
a. Zone 1: The Old City Area of Jammu falls under Zone 1. The zone is densely populated making a great challenge for the Collection, Segregation & Transportation of Waste.
b. Zone 2: Semi-Urban areas of the old city extended up to Shazadpur, Barnai and Chenora- Keran, falls under Zone 2. The population density in this zone is significantly less as compared to Zone 1.
c. Zone 3: The zone is located at the southern part of River Tawi and is locally known as the Trikuta region. The zone is occupied by the high-income group population resulting in good amount of waste generation as compared to Zone 1 and Zone 2.
Jammu city generates 350-400 metric tons per day (MT/day) of solid waste with a per capita generation rate of 0.55 Kg/capita/day. The composition of the waste largely depends on a wide range of factors like food structure, culture, lifestyle, climate, economic development and local landscaping. The principal source of solid waste generation has been the local residents, anaz mandi, vegetable market, sweet shops, restaurants, hospital, dispensaries, and commercial establishments etc.
Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) is responsible for performing the task of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management in Jammu city. JMC is responsible for collection, transportation and disposal of MSW in the city. Door to Door collection of waste is still in the infancy stage though a significant amount of progress is made in last few year. JMC is constantly working on it and trying to cover more and more area for door to door collection of waste. Source segregation of waste is not done presently due to lack of awareness among common people, however JMC used to organizes awareness drives from time to time to aware people about scientific methods of household waste disposal. The collection of waste and transportation is done by JMC using hand carts, rickshaws or auto tippers. In zone 1 where population density is high, waste collection is done by using hand carts and rickshaw. Waste from these hand carts and rickshaws are transferred to auto tippers manually whereas the picture is slightly different for Zone 2 and Zone 3 where population density is less and auto tippers are directly used to carry waste from primary collection points to secondary storage points. The secondary storage points are open spaces from where waste is transferred with the help of JCBs/ Front-end loaders in to the Refuse Compacters or Dumper Placers subsequent to which waste is sent for final disposal to Kot Bhalwal dumping site which is 15-20 Km away from the city. Kot Bhalwal dumping site is a trenching ground with an area of 19.5 acres and is covered with legacy waste. As on date, around three lakh tons of waste has been dumped on the present site.
The current waste management practices in Jammu were not efficient as there are many shortfalls in term of scientific management of MSW. No source segregation is being done at household level in JMC area. 100 per cent Door-to-door collection is also not being practiced in whole city except in few wards. There are around 67 minor collection points (primary collection) and 6 major collection stations (secondary collection) – all of which are overflowing with the waste load, due to lack of source segregation practice mixed waste which reaches the Kot-Bhalwal dumping sites is dumped in trenches without any prior treatment or processing. In present scenario there is a huge gap to fill the National Green Tribunal compliances, thus by reviewing the current scenario :
4JMC has proposed a new detailed plan for scientific management of Municipal Solid Waste management in the city. The major aim for this plan is to provide sustainable management of MSW and at the same time maximizing the resource recovery and minimizing the environmental degradation.
4It is proposed to implement 100 per cent door to door collection of MSW in the residential areas of Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3. In commercial areas twin bins and underground bins will be installed by JMC which will facilitate collection as well as segregation of MSW.
4Route optimization and GPS tracking system is also proposed to be installed in all vehicles involved in Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) of city. Two waste processing plants has been installed, one at Kot Balwal for zones 1 & 2 operated by NAFED and other at Bandurakh for zone 3 ISWM facility.
To conclude we can say that increasing amounts of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a continually growing problem at local, regional, national and global levels. JMC with a total budget of 1.7 Million US$ for a staff of 1202 is significantly trying its level best for designing and putting significant measures for efficient scientific management of MSW in the city. In order to revive the Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) scenario in Jammu, the state government has invited advisory services for MSW disposal through waste to energy (WTE) means in Public-private partnership (PPP) mode. It is also important to enforce strict regulations from the State Pollution Control Board and other government regulatory authorities in order to prevent illegal dumping of MSW in deep trenches around the banks of river Tawi and various Nallas in the city so as to control air and water pollution in this ecologically sensitive region.
(The authors are PhD Scholar, Central University of Jammu; Professor, Central University of Jammu and Director, Black Globe Ecocare Pvt Ltd)