By HH Mohrmen
In Meghalaya till date waste is considered a trivial subject, something that does not need due consideration and waste management is still considered unimportant. In spite of the fact that the Solid Waste Management Act 2016 is a law now, yet the government is not giving it the attention it deserves. But how long the government can overlook the important concern when the same is being recognised as a major urban issue the world over. In Meghalaya the problem has now reached rock bottom particularly, in Jowai town.
Some months ago the Jowai Municipal Board had to abruptly stop the collection of garbage from the homes of people and waste started to appear at almost every nook and corner of the town. The reason is residents of the town have no other option but to dump rubbish at every available space and waste mounds emerged in many commercial areas of the town. This became an eyesore and it has also damaged the good reputation of the town which this government has planned to develop as a smart town.
But this is not a problem of Meghalaya only. India like any other developing country is literarily getting buried under mounds of garbage. It is estimated that the country is generating more than 1.50 lakh metric tonne (MT) of solid waste every day. It is also estimated that about 15,000 MT of this garbage remains exposed every day, and this results in almost 55 lakh MT of solid waste disposed in open areas every year. Approximately 90 per cent (1, 35,000 MT per day) of the total amount is collected waste which is a major contributor to pollution. It is also reported that only 20 per cent (27,000 MT per day) of the total collected waste, is processed and the remaining 80 per cent (1, 08,000 MT per day) is dumped in landfill sites.
Study also indicate that in India in normal sized towns each person produces 300 to 400 grams of solid waste per person per day. In cities like Delhi and Bombay the figure increases to between 500 to 800 grams per person per day. Further, the average composition of domestic waste produced by each household can be broken down to: 10% Glass, 30% Paper/Cardboard, 9% Metals, 3% Textiles, 4% Plastics, 23% Vegetable Waste, 21% Dust, Cinders and Miscellaneous.
In India, based on the population of the different towns and cities, the census department of the country has categorised urban India into six tiers. Taking 2011 census as baseline and according to the census report, there are three megacities holding a population of 10 million (1 crore) or more. There are 53 urban agglomerations with a population of one million (10 lakhs) or above and 468 towns with a population of 100,000 (1 lakh) and above as per 2011 census. Population of Shillong according to 2011 census is 1.43 lakhs while that of Jowai is 28,430. And as per information collected from staff of the Jowai Municipal Board, on an average the town generates approximately 60 tons of waste per day. Now the important question is and where is this waste being disposed off?
The town’s impasse with the waste that it has generated reached its nadir when the JMB was stopped from dumping waste at the landfill located at Mupyut village. The protest led by pressure groups and the local communities adjacent to the site has since then prevented the garbage collectors of the Board from dumping waste in the site. Interestingly, the land where the garbage dumping ground is located belongs to the Jañtia Hills Autonomous District Council and the Jowai Municipal board had an agreement with the council in August 2017 to use the landfill for 20 years.
Ironically, now even the JHADC has no place to dispose the waste produced from Ïawthymme which is the council’s own market. And by the way markets is the subject of the District Council hence all the markets in the district as per the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are under the jurisdiction of the Councils. The matter becomes more complicated because all the markets in the Ïawmusiang area are technically under the jurisdiction of the JHADC and the council is duty bound to deal with the waste generated from these markets. They question is why is the JHADC washing its hand over this important issue?
Jowai has one MLA and four MDCs Andrew A. Shullai Jowai Central, Saron Paswet Jowai South, Bright Star Chyrmang Jowai North and Lakhon Dkhar Khliehtyrchi Sohmynting. Sadly, all the local representatives of the people have failed them. The MDCs do not consider it their duty to see that the Council honours the agreement it had with the Jowai Municipal Board and ensure uninterrupted disposal of waste. Except for Andrew Shullai all the MDCs are part of the Executive Committee headed by the CEM Thombor Shiwat and the MDCs have done precious little to help ease the problems facing the people of the town.
At some point of time the Administration at the District level made an arrangement to dump the waste collected from Jowai at Marten in Shillong. Even this arrangement had to be stopped because of the protest from the local community. It is also no surprise that Jowai Municipal Board is already facing a plethora of problems. The Board’s staffs including the garbage collectors have for the many years now not received their salaries due to them. And even if they do receive their salaries it’s after a gap of many months. Sadly, in spite of that, the MDA government in its wisdom has appointed a Chairman to the Jowai Municipal Board. What is the Chairman going to do without the government conducting the election to elect the members of the Board? Or is he going to be a one man army who will take the problem-ridden Jowai Municipal Board out of its misery?
The different dorbar chnong continue to support the board by collecting fees to pay for collection of waste from the households in their respective localities. But will they allow this government to squander people’s hard-earned money like this? Who is going to pay for the Chairman’s perks and the salary of his st If the Board can afford to appoint a Chairman, then obviously it is financially sound. Now is this not a case of the government trying to appease its supporters at the cost of the Jowai Municipal Board?
It may also be reminded that in Shillong few years ago a new waste disposal and segregation of garbage at source was initiated as a pilot project in some localities of the capital. Unfortunate it is not known if the system continues today or the public are not aware of the outcome of the project. Even if the project had failed it would be interesting to study and learn from the mistake that was made when it was implemented. So what has the Shillong Municipal Board learnt from the pilot project? Sadly the outcome of the project was not made public. It is now obvious that solid waste management is still a distant goal and the towns and cities of the state still have a long way to go to reach the goal of the Act.
With regards to waste generated from Jowai, the immediate need is to locate a new landfill to dump the town’s waste. It was suggested by a friend from abroad that the government use the waste generated to close the abandoned coal mines in different parts of Jañtia hills. Exhausted coal mines especially those using box cutting method are ideal for dumping waste. It will be a case of shooting two birds with one stone when waste is dumped into the exhausted coal mines which are not only a threat to the environment but open mines are also a threat to humans.
And another immediate solution to the problem is, the SM Act 2016 which also provides an opportunity for using waste as Refused Derived Fuel (RDF). RDF can be used in industrial boilers as a supplement to fossil fuels and the state already has many cement plants which can use waste as RDF. It is said that about 25-30% of household waste is suitable for conversion to RDF.
The government only needs to rethink ways and means on how best to dispose of waste generated especially from towns and cities. The JMB issue may serve as an eye-opener for the government in general and the Department of Urban Affairs in particular in how it can best deal with the waste that people generate.
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