Delhi Facing Crisis In Managing Solid WasteThe Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) spent Rs 760 crore in the last financial year on management of solid waste; however there is no noticeable change in the sanitation conditions in Delhi. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), having run out of space to dump solid waste which has been increasing every year, came up with a master plan for solid waste management in December 2007. An estimated 9000 MT of solid waste is generated everyday which is expected to rise above 14000 MT. Despite the master plan and the expenditure though, nothing has changed on the ground.
The basic game plan of door-to-door segregation is yet to be implemented. Once that is done, officials claim that only 25% of the present quantity of waste will find its way to the landfill sites. The rest will either be composted, recycled or used for energy generation. However, going by MCD's own admission, even if all its proposed projects are in place by 2009, it will be able to process only 57.22% of the waste. By 2014, it will go up to 66.07%.
While new landfill sites have not yet been functional with Bhatti Mines awaiting environmental clearance while those at Jaitpur and Narela-Bawana have got resistance from locals who rightfully fear water table and sanitation issues with waste dumping ground in their areas. The three present landfill sites are expected to close down by November 2009. Alternatives sites are not yet available. In such a situation, when the Commonwealth Games are also just a year away, Delhi is facing a serious crisis in waste management.
The door to door segregation does indeed reduce the quantity of waste that would be dumped at landfill sites, however if not done in a scientific manner, the dumping grounds would pose a serious hazard to lives of people living in the region, not to mention spoiling water table and creating even more issues for the common men. MCD has attempted and failed at waste segregation in the past and the results for this attempt need to be monitored. With a majority of MCD's plans either delayed or unsuccessful, sources feel that a crisis situation has developed in the city and urgent measures are required to deal with it. Environmentalists and residents have expressed serious concerns over use of incineration techniques and in some cases, have also stalled development of certain projects. Incineration as a method, whether to derive energy or by use of plasma technology, leads to a lot of emissions. We are not equipped to deal with that. The quality of our waste is also different and it is foolish to compare it with that in other countries. With the the three landfill sites reaching a threshold capacity and ready to be shut down - MCD needs to sincerely devote serious thoughts to this issue, review where the money has been spent (without yielding any results), monitor performance of the projects in a professional manner - and act in a responsible manner to provide clean air and water to its citizens. Thats the least we can expect! Got any views or would you like to share something about scientific landfill - drop in a note to us, we welcome your inputs. Reference: Times Of India | 
