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Raising a stink

Despite framing rules, proposing fines and starting ‘model colonies’, waste segregation in the capital has failed to take off. With mountains of garbage continuing to grow, The Indian Express reports on the challenges before authorities.

Despite framing rules, proposing fines and starting ‘model colonies’, waste segregation in the capital has failed to take off. Ragpickers at Bhalswa landfill site. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

The year 2015 was an eye-opener of sorts for Arpit Bhargava. Down with dengue, the lawyer started thinking about the link between waste and diseases. But thoughts gave way to action when he heard about a couple committing suicide in south Delhi’s Lado Sarai, after their seven-year-old son died battling the same disease.

On September 8, 2015, Babita and Laxmichandra Rout, parents of Avinash, jumped from the terrace of their rented home. Babita’s left hand was tied to Laxmichandra’s right, and in the suicide note they wrote: “It is nobody’s fault. It is our decision.”

The case shook Bhargava, now 32, and he filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, demanding action. “In 2017, when Gita Mittal became the Delhi High Court Acting Chief Justice, we told her about the case. She intervened and regular hearings started,” he said.

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What followed was a series of court hearings where the High Court said that to fix the problem of vector-borne diseases, it was essential to ensure the process of garbage disposal is handled on a war footing. The HC directed formulation of a long-term action plan that finally led to framing of the Solid Waste Management Bye-Laws, 2018, for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. These laws recognise and mandate the role of waste generators — households, vendors, restaurants, hotels and commercial spaces — in segregating waste at the source, so as little waste as possible makes its way to Delhi’s already unsustainable landfill sites.

The hearings on the issue has often witnessed drama, with the Supreme Court on one occasion asking if the L-G thought he was “superman”, and on another, remarking that waste be dumped outside the Raj Niwas or NDMC area instead of dumping it near houses of “underprivileged people”.

Festive offer

On the ground, though, enforcing waste segregation has been anything but easy.

How waste is collected now

Waste generated in households is collected by rag pickers in most colonies. They take out whatever can be sold in scrap markets or reused, and the rest goes to the dhalaos.

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In East Delhi, partially segregated waste is collected from dhalaos and sent to the waste to energy plant in Ghazipur. Wet waste is supposed to go to two compost pits in Preet Vihar and Trilokpuri, but a majority ends up at Ghazipur, already filled beyond capacity. After a portion of the landfill collapsed and claimed two lives last year, the L-G had ordered that dumping at the landfill be stopped. But officials say that in the absence of an alternative waste site, 1,800 metric tonnes of waste adds to the garbage mountains every day.

The North Corporation follows the same model, except that in three zones, it does door-to-door collection, and composting of waste at Bawana. “Bawana is the only scientifically engineered landfill in Delhi. Here, we segregate and process solid waste by producing compost and recyclable material, with only 25% waste being sent to the landfill,” said a senior official. This landfill gets 1,900-2,200 metric tonnes of waste per day.

Waste collected from the other three zones reaches Bhalswa landfill, where an estimated 2,000-2,500 metric tonnes of waste is dumped.

A model project?

The Bye-Laws, notified by the L-G on January 15 this year, put the onus of waste segregation — into wet waste (biodegradable), dry waste (non-biodegradable), and domestic hazardous waste — directly on those who generate it, including households.

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It also directs civic bodies to provide door-to-door collection and transportation of segregated waste, including in slums and unauthorised colonies.

Households and families that don’t segregate waste are supposed to be fined Rs 200, though in reality, enforcing this is a challenge, say officials.

But the most crucial decision on waste segregation was taken on last year’s World Environment Day, June 5, when the North and the East Delhi Municipal Corporations launched a pilot project for waste segregation at the source into wet and dry.

Households and families that don’t segregate waste are supposed to be fined Rs 200, though in reality, enforcing this is a challenge, say officials. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

While the North Corporation started the project in six colonies — Pushpanjali, New Rajender Nagar, Shakti Nagar, Vivekanand Puri and Municipal Quarters of Minto Road and Indira Colony — the East body launched it in Dilshad Garden, MIG Flats, Loni Road DDA flats and Jhilmil.

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The South Corporation also claims to be following the model in one block in Maharani Bagh, Defense Colony and Green Park, and five blocks in RK Puram. But Ranjeet Singh, president of the Defense Colony RWA, said, “The corporation does not have resources for transportation of segregated waste. We still segregate waste and give it to rag pickers, who eventually end up mixing the waste back together to collect scrap for their own use. The Corporation should provide more auto tippers (vehicles that collect waste) and initiate door-to-door collection.”

The eventual aim, officials say, was that the entire capital replicate the “success model” of these colonies. Except, a year on, the project has hardly made a dent. Officials from the North and East corporations admit that the drive has failed to show the desired results, and say that around 30% of the population in these colonies is now segregating waste at the source.

Rag pickers testify to the problem. At 8:30 am in Dilshad Garden’s dhalao pocket B, rag picker Ravi picks out plastic, electronic items, cardboard — anything that could be of use to him. “None of the houses here segregate waste. When we go to collect garbage, there is a single dustbin outside most houses,” he said.

In an ideal scenario, every household will segregate waste into biodegradable, and non-biodegradable and recyclable. The first kind of waste is supposed to be put into green coloured bins, the second in blue bins. Waste pickers are supposed to collect the waste separately.

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“When the programme started, 50% of the households used to segregate waste, but gradually the numbers decreased,” said RWA president Chander Kapoor.

In New Rajender Nagar, 50-year-old Sheela Singh said around 200 households were given garbage bins to segregate wet and dry waste, but residents used only one and kept the other as spare.

Eight months after the Bye-Laws were notified, none of the three Municipal Corporations have started imposing the Rs 200 fine. They have, however, spent close to Rs 6 crore on distribution of garbage bins and pamphlets, and awareness campaigns on sanitation. Officials also say not enough meetings have been held to increase awareness or listen to the residents’ concerns.

Singh says MCD officials did hold two or three meetings with the RWA, but there was no follow-up, “so people are back to old ways”.

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A senior East Corporation official admitted that the success of the project depends on the people. “The best way to educate people and have a long-term impact is to include this in students’ textbooks,” he said.

EDMC commissioner Ranbeer Singh said, “We have identified three colonies to give fresh impetus to waste segregation — Vivek Vihar, Anand Vihar, Jhilmil. We are working on making people aware, after which the programme will be started.”

He said the corporation dumps around 1,800 metric tonnes of garbage in Ghazipur landfill, out of 2,500 tonnes that is collected.

Commissioner of the South civic body, P K Goel, said, “We have started it in a few colonies, but it is a long process that needs constant effort.”

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But Bhargava remains critical of ‘model colony’ project. “The corporations picked posh or government colonies and are struggling to ensure waste segregation there. Imagine how rules would be executed in unauthorised colonies and slums.”

Key features of the bye-laws

  • Segregation is the responsibility of waste generator
  • RWAs to act as facilitators to ensure segregation at Source, collection of segregated waste in separate streams, handover recyclable material to either the authorised waste picker or the authorised recycler
  • Door-to-door collection of segregated solid waste to be implemented in all areas, including slums and informal settlements, by integrating informal collection system with the formal system. Area-specific time slot has to be set for collection
  • Fee for garbage collection to be fixed between Rs 50 and Rs 200 for waste collection (residential units)
  • Fine of Rs 200 for failure to segregate

No easy solutions

Experts say the way forward is a mix of awareness and penalty. “It requires a sustained programme where people are hand-held through the process. Penalties have not been imposed. High Court and Supreme Court have intervened but agencies have not yet put basic systems of collection and transportation in place,” said Swati Sambyal, who works on waste with the Centre for Science and Environment and helped frame the Bye-Laws.

But Corporation officials say it would be unfair to fine people just yet. “We can only do that when we ensure collection and transportation. For proper collection, we have to integrate rag pickers or the informal door-to-door collection system with civic bodies, which has not been done. In several wards in Delhi, we do not have resources to collect dry and wet waste separately. At least 100 more auto tippers with separate compartments are needed in east Delhi alone,” said an official.

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According to studies by the NGO Chintan, the only segregation that happens is at the end of rag pickers. “The new Bye-Laws clearly state that coordination between informal workers and governing agencies is crucial. That hasn’t happened so far,” said Chitra Mukherjee from Chintan, which conducts awareness programmes in societies.

The exceptions

At Jor Bagh, identified by the New Delhi Municipal Council as one of five colonies where the waste segregation project started on a pilot basis, the number of dhalaos has come down from six last year to two this year.

Chandrima Shah, a resident leading a campaign through WhatsApp groups and regular RWA meetings, said, “We made powerpoint presentations to show people how waste generation, without segregation, leads to garbage and eventually diseases,” she said.

Residents of the upscale area have hired private helpers to collect waste separately, and then transfer it to tippers from where wet waste goes to the biomethane plant at Lakshmi Bai Nagar, and dry to the Okhla waste to energy plant.

Medical officer of the New Delhi Municipal Council, P K Sharma, said more than half of the household in colonies like Bapa Nagar, Pandara Park, Golf Links and Kaka Nagar, where the pilot project was launched, are segregating waste.

What’s worked in their favour is having a private composting plant for residents. Jor Bagh has one, where all biodegradable waste is disposed of. This is also what the Bye-Laws mandate.

The one city in India that has managed to make progress in the field is Bengaluru which, according to official estimates, segregates around 50% of its waste.

A report published by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, released in April, says that of the 4,000 tonnes of waste generated per day, 1,700 tonnes of wet waste and 263 tonnes of dry waste was segregated at the source. The Corporation also collects sanitary waste separately.

A mix of awareness programmes, threats to not pick up unsegregated waste and penalties meant that households responded to the call of the civic body. The Corporation roping in informal waste pickers to create a robust network of collection also helped Bengaluru do what Delhi has been struggling to.

First uploaded on: 27-08-2018 at 03:23 IST
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