Recently the State Pollution Control Board organised a meeting at Windermere to announce the launch of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 which ostensibly enforces stricter rules for waste segregation, stringent tracking via digital audits, and robust “polluter pays” penalties. The 2026 rules supersede the 2016 rules because the latest rules require all urban and rural local bodies to track waste digitally while holding large generators directly accountable for their footprint. The key features of the SWM Rules 2026 are a repeat of the 2016 Rules which speak of waste segregation into wet waste which is usually kitchen waste; dry waste which includes plastics, paper, metal, glass etc which are sent to Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), sanitary waste which includes diapers, sanitary napkins etc., and special care waste which includes medicines, batteries and other hazardous items which cannot be disposed off with other waste but must be handed over to designated collection centres only.
The rules are fine except that implementation is and always has been the problem. Moreover, Meghalaya is currently generating more waste than its single dumping ground at Marten can handle. The waste collected there has become a hillock resembling those garbage mounds around the National Capital Region. Marten is thronging with crows that pick on the garbage mound, causing it to tumble down and be carried by rainwater to Umiam Lake. Perhaps the officials of the State Pollution Control Board should note this and seek timely action against it. The 2026 Act defines Bulk Waste Generators (BWG) as entities that generate over 100 kg/day, consume 40,000 liters of water per day, or exceed 20,000 sq. meters of floor space. Such entities must process wet waste on-site or obtain an Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR) certificate. This would include in the main the hotels around the city of Shillong and beyond.
The Central Pollution Control Board will work closely with the State Pollution Control Boards to digitally track waste generation, audit what happens to the generated waste, and assess how much waste can be processed. For this a centralised online portal for solid waste management will be put in place. The 2026 rules will also strictly implement the Polluter Pays Principle which imposes specific environmental compensation and penalties for improper dumping or non-compliance. The Rules will also ensure that a circular economy is established where cement industries etc., increase their use of Refuse Derived Fuel from 5% to 15%. The large waste generators in the case of urban hubs in Meghalaya are places such as Iewduh, Police Bazar, Laitumkhrah, Polo and Jail Road markets to name a few and these generate the bulk of the garbage but without a foolproof system of disposing their organic waste most of which is dumped by the roadside or directly into the rivers flowing through Shillong City namely the Umkhrah and Umshyrpi. While the Chief Minister had announced that by the time Meghalaya hosts the National Games the rivers would be cleansed and visitors would walk around those rivers as they would do beside the River Thames in London, the reality is something else. Rivers continue to be dumping grounds for solid waste ranging from clothes to shoes to household garbage and no one is accountable – not the Dorbar Shnong; not the District Council and not the Municipality. All seem to have failed to tackle the solid waste challenge. Rules alone are meaningless if the enforcement is weak or non-existent.
