In East Delhi, study finds not all on board for waste segregation

The study, funded by EDMC and accessed by The Indian Express, was conducted over a period of three months till September 2018. It covered 60 out of 469 EDMC colonies of various categories.

The Solid Waste Management Bylaws 2017, which came into force in 2018, makes it necessary for waste generators to separate and store solid waste into three streams: non-biodegradable or dry waste, biodegradable or wet waste, and hazardous waste. The laws also direct that waste should be stored in bins of green, blue and black for wet, dry and hazardous waste respectively. Segregated refuse should then be collected door-to-door daily, by integrating the informal collection system with the EDMC.

EDMC commissioner Dr Dilraj Kaur said the corporation has taken a number of steps to improve waste management. “We have three wards — Yamuna Vihar, Anand Vihar and Mayur Vihar Phase I — where all houses have started segregating waste… By June next year, we will achieve segregation in six other wards, and gradually across East Delhi,” she said.

TERI identified a number of behavioural and administrative gaps in waste management and put forward several recommendations, including providing training to waste collectors, establishing deposition centres for domestic hazardous waste and a decentralised waste management system at the colony level.

Sourabh Manuja of TERI’s Centre for Waste Management said, “Segregation of waste would ultimately help in reducing our carbon emissions. Better use of transportation would help save fuel and better recycling would reduce the release of greenhouse gases.”