The Indian MSW Rules, 2000 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 call for source segregation of MSW. However, after 13 years of living witht he Rules, we probably do not have even a single municipality across the country - large or small alike, which can take the claim of having complied with this particular aspect of the Rules. Ideally speaking, segregation at source is a rather desirable practice, but not practicable and feasible in a rather disorderly society as in India. Look at the education deficit for the large number of people and the corresponding deficit in terms of awarenes ..read more

Some time last year I blogged about the disruption of municipal solid waste management services across the length and breadth of Kerala. Municipal workers and the urban local bodies have been derelict in discharging one of the most essential public services of removing and safely disposing of the garbage from their cities and towns (the state is a urban continuum!). Apparently they can not find suitable sites for developing sanitary landfills while several of their treatment plants have not delivered and have not lived to the expectations (no generation of wealth from waste). Now after long en ..read more

Have a look at the disaster in Chennai which shows the poor state of garbage disposal - a creation of the local Municipal Corporation:  http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/photo-file-the-mired-marsh/article4791436.ece?ref=slideshow#im-image-0 These are scary pictures - a wetland getting choked by garbage dumps growing like cancer. And imagine adverse health impacts due to fumes, the pathogens, the viruses and the leachate going into the groundwater. And let's not even talk about the GHGs ..... Municipal bodies do not want to develop sanitary landfill sites, but will wa ..read more

Home Composting is environmental equivalent of performing a daily Yajna (Hawan/Homam) - You can chant the following Shanti Mantra while feeding your GEM daily: Samagri: Food waste (all green waste - remember we are veggies!) Samhita: Dry leaves (all browns) Fuel: Water Every environmentally concerned Earth Citizen could follow this. It will bring peace in your microcosm and help us get rid of a bit of solid waste ..read more

This day -April 22, has been designated as Earth Day. What is a better way to reaffirm our commitment to the Mother Earth than to adopt the Green Hobby of 'Home Composting'? It is the best and most humble form of giving back to the Mother Earth. So do not let your organics go waste, convert them into manure and use it for nurturing saplings, plants and trees. For more details on home composting, visit our website www.green-ensys.org. Sincerely Asit NEMA    ..read more

Our policy makers are still holding on to the line that the "waste should pay for itself" ! It is amazing that after several years of no compliance of the MSW Rules and after several treatment plants having been closed for a variety of reasons, we are expecting that the treatment plants will convert the garbage into gold. The two terms/ phrases 'Waste' and 'Pay for itself' are contradictory and therefore the sentence "Waste should pay for itself' becomes an interesting oxymoron ! If it were to pay for itself, it would no longer be called 'waste', and people will not discard it at all. Unfortun ..read more

Recognising the potential threat to the environment and public health, the HonorableSupreme Court of India intervened and effected enactment of  Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 in the year 2000. At that point of time the Court directed 40 Class-I cities to clean up in 3 years. However in 2013, after 13 years of introducing the Rules and after having spent considerable resources in setting up solid waste treatment plants, we are no where close to the desired state. Officially we do not know how many Class-I cities are in a position to  claim compl ..read more

On July 5th Indian Express came out with a story on the pathetic situation of municipal solid waste management across the state of Kerala (see the link below): http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-dumps-its-waste-does-not-collect-it/970383/0 It is indeed a very sorry state of affairs. For a problem of industrial dimensions, quacks are still chest beating on source segregation and decentralized solutions and activists are offering their hair-brained ideas on biogas and rag pickers, etc.. Some are hoping that the army of rag pickers will solve the problem! Its like going to traditi ..read more

Recently during a discussion in the context of payment of tipping/gate fee to operators of MSW treatment plants, it was very interesting to hear a very senior municipal official say that "solid waste is our asset". My reaction to this was "Do they consider their open dumps of waste as fixed deposits?" Our municipalities are still hoping that some day a private operator will provide Mida's touch and convert their MSW into gold ! With this as the over-riding paradigm, it is very difficult to help them realise the need for payment of gate fee to the operator in lieu of the essential service bein ..read more

It is interesting to note that some people at pretty high levels still consider solid waste management to be just 'brooming the streets' ! No wonder we miss the point and find ourselves in the present situation as seen across the entire urban India. Wonder when the domain of MSW will be recognised as an operation involving 3 M - Material, Man and Machine and when sound industrial management principales for optimum performance on all the three fronts will be adopted ? Let's not forget that the bottom line is optimising the finances involved in capex and opex and deliver an acceptable level of ..read more