Sustainable management of municipal waste

Dumping of municipal solid wastes at Chandrapur by Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has triggered protests by residents as they are apprehensive of environmental degradation in the area. Doubts over the sustainability of the proposed waste to energy plant at the site will also keep alive such genuine concerns of residents of Chandrapur and other areas. The GMC signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL) for setting up one of the four Integrated Solid Waste Management Facilities at the old Chandrapur Thermal Power Plant site. The MoA signed in 2019 requires the GMC to make arrangements for scientific handling, storage, and segregation of waste following Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 and make available the segregated wastes to APGCL for the waste to energy plant. The Board of Directors of APGCL approved handing over 40 bighas of land to GMC for dumping purposes on the condition that GMC would provide the assorted garbage necessary for setting up a waste-to-energy plant in the area. In February last year, the APGCL informed the Assam Energy Regulatory Commission (AERC) that the total land of APGCL at Chandrapur is more than 1,000 bighas and the 40 bighas of land allotted to GMC for dumping municipal solid waste is at an isolated place about 1.5–2 km away from the Chandrapur plant and have separate approaches. Ongoing protests show that the concern expressed by two members of the AERC is that the GMC may start dumping garbage while APGCL is yet to make a proper plan for their waste-to-energy plant and this would lead to serious environmental concerns. AERC chairperson shared the concern expressed by the members and requested the Principal Secretary, Power, Government of Assam to ensure that a garbage treatment plant is set up by GMC before the dumping of garbage starts. The GMC's action of dumping city waste at the site ignoring the AERC's request raises questions over choices of its priorities between dumping waste and setting up a waste treatment plant. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) recommended to all states and Union Territories that waste-to-energy projects may be taken up in urban local bodies where the total waste generation is at least 1000-1200 MT per day. It also advised that waste to energy project be taken up as the last option keeping in view the sustainability factors of availability of segregated wastes as well as the cost of power to be generated as compared to cheaper renewable electricity options of solar and wind energy. The city generates about 650 MT of solid waste every day and if this quantity is to be dumped at four sites, then the maximum segregated waste to be available for waste to energy plant will be around 150 tonnes per day. Going by the recommendations of the MOHUA on waste availability factor itself raised doubt over the sustainability of the proposed waste to energy plant. An unviable energy plant at the dumping site will only turn the Chandrapur forested hills into another landfill site like Boragaonand add to the concerns of serious environmental and health hazards feared by residents. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) on the proposed waste to energy plant of the APGCL at the site will be able to shed light on it and the DPR is available for public scrutiny is critical for transparency of the GMC's solid waste management plan. Segregation of wastes into biodegradable and non-biodegradable at source is the key to scientific handling of municipal solid waste. When it comes to the segregation of wastes at source or during door-to-door collection in Guwahati, it presents a depressing scenario. Even if some city residents segregate plastic and other non-biodegradable wastes, garbage collection vans will mix up the wastes to be taken to the dumping site. Waste to compost is another way of reducing the waste load from landfill sites of municipal social wastes but is equally challenging and requires meticulous planning and networking of end-users. Many such wastes to compost plants have been closed in India as there are no takers of fertiliser companies for such compost generated from wastes even after the Ministry of Fertiliser providing subsidies to the tune of Rs 1,500 per tonne of compost. Lessons need to be drawn from such practical experiences while planning waste to energy or waste to compost plant by any urban local body like GMC or Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority. Arbitrary and unplanned dumping of municipal solid wastes of the capital city without a comprehensive scientific management plan will create serious environmental and health hazards. Building awareness on municipal solid waste management is also critical to ensure active participation of the residents in waste management practices at home and in public places to make the city clean and sustainable.