[ Marpek Riram ]
Managing solid waste is a global problem. Many developed countries in the world are spending millions of dollars in managing their waste through different methods which are favourable to their climatic conditions and within their municipal budget limits. But despite being a global phenomenon, most developing countries pay less attention in allocating budgets for waste management operations. Globally, it is estimated that the quantity of municipal waste generated is over 1.3 billion tons per year, which are likely to increase to 2.2 billion tonnes per year by 2025. Non-biodegradable and degradable waste are finding their way to the water bodies and choking the world’s river systems and oceans, whereas unmanaged biodegradable waste becomes a breeding ground for pathogens.
Solid waste in Arunachal
Among the 28 states in India, Arunachal Pradesh is the most thinly populated state and least developed. The land of the raising sun had not seen the menace of waste in the early ’90s, but due to improvement in the condition of living and rapid urbanisation, the waste generation has increased. The collection of solid waste and management was not organised due to lack of awareness and absence of technically sound manpower to manage and plan solid waste management in the state.
The first plant was set in Itanagar for managing the waste generated from Itanagar town, but after going well for a few months, the plant failed to perform. Many other plants are either in the construction stage, or are yet to start.
What went wrong?
In the initial period of planning solid waste management, the concept and gravity of the problem was not discussed thoroughly, nor did we have a dedicated team to manage the waste. The fund allocated for solid waste management is minimal and not sufficient for proper planning and operation. The entire operation is simply depending on operation requirement. Many a time, projects and equipment are sanctioned as demanded by the executing agency without going through screening, which most of the time failed to perform as expected. The other factors for failure are by replicating SWM plant models from other state, like most of our plants are scaled-down replica of SWM plants operating at other states.
The following are some reasons for the failure of solid waste management in our state:
- Absence of technical person: In most cases, SWM plants are designed by consultants that are from other states. These consultants manipulate the state’s policymakers by showing fancy projects and equipment just to get the work without actually going to the field and doing the studies before submitting the project DPR, and most of the time they replicate projects from other states. In the absence of a technical person for solid waste management, these consultants are not scrutinised properly and their terms are simply agreed to.
- Absence of proper data: Before setting up solid waste management, a wide range of data is required to collect over a year on a daily basis to determine the capacity of the SWM plant. Without proper data, the plant will either underperform or be overloaded. The technology required for selection of plant also depends on the nature of the waste generated. In the case of our state, there is no data on waste generation and no records are maintained in the town/state level. All data available are crude. In the absence of a proper study of waste generation, the nature of waste and proper selection of treatment technology were the key failures of the Itanagar SWM plant.
- Loading & transportation equipment: For proper disposal of solid waste, loading and transportation play a major role. Proper selection of loading and transportation are keys to successful operation of an SWM plant. The waste generated should reach on the scheduled time for proper treatment, or else the waste brought out of schedule may affect the operational chain of the plant. Proper selection of equipment is also required from the economic point of views during its whole service life.
It has been observed that equipment are purchase in bulk without giving any consideration to the field requirement and maintenance requirement. For example, a few years back, a fleet of JCB Robot-Skid steer loaders were procured for loading garbage, but due to high wear and tear of tyre, it was difficult to maintain the JCB robot and it is now lying off-road. Hence, selection of waste handling equipment should be based on local requirement, rather than following central procurement. The height of vehicle, its loading capacity, the size of the vehicle, mileage and maintenance cost are the major factors for vehicle selection.
- Land: The most important resource for proper SWM implementation is land. In most of the projects, land required for the plant and a landfill is procured at the divisional level. The requirement of land is based on the total quantity of waste generation and the service life of the plant. In the absence of correct data, it is difficult to quantify the land requirement. The government shall make policies on land acquisition for solid waste management. Every town in Arunachal Pradesh requires sanitary land field for proper disposal of waste.
- Training of labourers: We are just focusing on lifting of garbage from the streets. No training was ever given to the labourers to handle waste in a proper manner. Proper training for the labourers is as important as running an SWM plant. They are the nerve of the entire operation and management. Any wrong practice out of ignorance may hamper the smooth operation of the plant, and the life of the equipment also gets shortened. Hence, there is a need to focus on training of sanitation workers.
- Fleet management: Proper care and maintenance of a fleet of transportation vehicles is required as the entire operation depends on transportation. A dedicated team of fleet management is required for the upkeep the vehicles. Monitoring of the vehicles’ movements is also required for optimum service and fuel economy, which can be done by the GPS monitoring system. Such management will bring down the total operational cost.
What do we need to do now?
Following are some suggestions for preparing a future plan for optimum solid waste management requirement.
- Data collection for each town: 18 months (minimum). Weigh bridge installation at dumpsite and dedicated team for data collection need to be assigned. Setting up of a central recordkeeping cell.
- Acquisition of land for project & dumpsite: No timeframe. The land should be procured on the basis of priorities through government notification/orders for all towns in Arunachal Pradesh.
- Training on SWM operation for entire team: No timeframe. Filed visit and training should be done on similar town. No field visit should be permitted in the the metros as the problem faced by them and us are not similar.
- Procurement of equipment based on field requirements: No timeframe. Vehicles and equipment should be procured on the basis of actual field conditions. For example, the equipment required for Bomdila town is not the same as Itanagar or Pasighat.
Solid waste management is a matter of concern for all as it directly affects our health and hygiene. Improper disposal of waste also affects the environment severely. The need of the hour is to devise a proper plan to mitigate the menace of solid waste in Arunachal Pradesh. We need to contain the waste before it engulfs us. (The writer is an assistant engineer in the urban development & housing department)
