Rajeev Kumar Nagotra
The consumption levels of our society, in general, have risen exponentially due to our increased ability and temptation to spend. A direct consequence of this socio-economic shift has been the colossal volumes of waste that get accumulated every morning in the nooks and corners of our streets. In some cases the garbage is heaped up discretely at shady locations but in most of the cases it lies strewn around in full glory. A resolution of this issue requires a rare alignment of political will, community participation and availability of technology. Prime Minister Mr. Modi lectures passionately on the issues of hygiene and cleanliness but waste disposal/management is certainly not on the union list of functions. And, therefore, the state governments and the local administrative units need to step in and take the baton from the PM and push the campaign at the grass root level. The Indian story in urban waste management is led by the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab. It is by the efforts of the local administration and public participation that cities namely Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ludhiana and Vadodara have each achieved a sewage treatment capacity that meets the volume of generation. In the typical Indian context, however, it is a norm that a state government does not act much until near the end of its term or until pushed to the wall by a cognizant civic society. So, the general public has to rely largely upon their own initiatives for issues that concern them more often than they do the government. The issue of waste management is clearly more of a community’s problem than a minister’s for it is we who generate and face the piles of garbage stinking in our neighbourhoods every day. This article is about what we, as citizens and as local administrative units, that is, our Mohalla committees and the Municipality, can do on our part to contain the problem of urban waste.
Jammu city produces at least 300 TPD (tonnes per day) of solid waste (Central Pollution Control Board Report based upon census 2011). Just to make the arithmetic simpler and the perspective clearer, each one of us who has the right to vote in Jammu city is adding 600 grams to the urban (solid) waste every day. And, this ritual of waste disposal has a few interesting aspects to it. Firstly, there are not enough garbage collection bins installed by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) around the old city where people can dump their daily trash. So, people of a locality start dumping garbage at a common site whose selection is decided by how public it is in character. This way no particular individual or household can complain and everyone can continue to abuse the public property without a sense of remorse. Hence, a wide roadside venue, a street corner, or a spot adjacent to a public office/institution becomes the garbage dumping point. Examples are the spaces outside the Govt. Middle School Kachi Chawni, ZEO’s office at Kachi Chawni and the corner at Dhounthali Tange Wali Gali intersection. Secondly, in the areas where a garbage bin does exist, it is so old and dysfunctional that neither public nor the JMC is able to use it. Moreover instead of being put into the bin, the garbage gets thrown at the bin. Most of the time the bags of garbage miss the target and land up on the ground while the bin keeps waiting with its lids undone. This disgusting view can be seen any day at Panjtirthi chowk in front of the Parvati Bhawan. Citizens must make sure that the garbage is put into the bin only and understand that it is important to keep the lid of the bin closed after use. An open container not only spreads foul smell and diseases but also attracts stray dogs and human scavengers who would again spread the garbage around in search of food or recyclable articles. Here a minimum requirement is that functional garbage bins should be there in the first place. The JMC is, therefore, implored to use the urban concentration data it has from the latest census, identify the sites for waste collection and provide sufficient number of large garbage containers, preferably having light weight hinged plastic lids that can be easily operated by the residents of the locality. Furthermore, JMC must facilitate waste segregation at this stage itself. This requires installation of separate containers bearing clear labels for bio-degradable waste such as perished food items, recyclable waste such as glass, plastics, paper and cardboard and hazardous waste such as chemicals and paints. And, people must be sensitized about the different categories of waste and encouraged to utilize this information while disposing it off. For now, Jammuites care little about waste segregation at the disposal stage so much so that the solid waste is even thrown into the water drains, a practice that not only clogs the drains and creates a highly unbecoming sight in our localities but also makes the problem of waste handling all the more complicated. Waste water and solid waste are two separate issues and their management requires separate processes and technologies. Therefore, waste segregation at the outset should be encouraged as it is the first step in curbing the menace. Our educational institutions, government and corporate offices, civic bodies, NGOs, theater groups and media can play a vital role in educating the society on this aspect of the problem. The waste collected thus is good for transportation to the facilities where scientific methods are employed to convert it either into fuel or light energy or into useful resources such as drinking/irrigation water, and, this is where the role of political leadership comes in.
The newly elected young and energetic leaders of old city have done an excellent job of renovating the streets with new tiles. However, the heaps of filth sitting as “pollution-sinks” on these beautified lanes and the macadamized roads create a serious health hazard and present a highly unpleasant view. The state governments of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are collaborating extensively with a consortium of Dutch companies to develop and implement strategies to harness energy from the solid waste. Perhaps our leaders can also take a cue from this futuristic trend and enter into similar agreements for treatment of urban waste in their constituencies, and, this should no longer be procrastinated if we indeed aspire to make Jammu a heritage city in the long run and a smart city in the not so long run.
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