Chhattisgarh most efficient in waste management, big states lag behind

Waste is collected on a daily basis from households in 93 per cent of the country's municipal councils under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan of which only 57 per cent is processed, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has said.

As per a report presented by the ministry recently in Parliament, Chhattisgarh has the highest success rate in waste management among states whereas big states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra lag behind.

According to the data presented by the ministry, waste is collected from the doorsteps of households in over 79,000 or 93 per cent of the over 84,000 municipal councils in urban areas.

The report stated that 148,000 tonnes of waste is generated in the country every day, of which 57 per cent is either recycled or processed.

The remaining waste is sent to dumping grounds or landfills in the respective states, the report said.

As per the report's state wise data, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka are among the 14 states in which all municipal councils have been successful in meeting the goal of collecting garbage from the doorsteps of households.

In Chhattisgarh, that tops the list of states for efficient waste management, 1,650 metric tonnes of waste is collected everyday from each house in its 3,217 municipal councils, 90 per cent of which is processed.

In Madhya Pradesh, 6,424 metric tonnes waste is collected everyday from all households in its 6,999 municipal councils of which 84 per cent is processed, whereas in Gujarat 82 per cent of the waste collected is successfully processed on a daily basis.

According to the report, the states in which the maximum amount of waste is collected have the least efficient waste management infrastructure.

For instance, 23,450 metric tonnes of waste is collected everyday in Maharashtra of which only 57 per cent is processed.

In both Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu around 15,550 metric tonnes of waste is collected on a daily basis, of which of which 58 per cent is processed in UP and 62 per cent in TN.

In West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir only nine per cent waste is processed while Meghalaya processes four percent of its collected waste. In Arunachal Pradesh, there is zero processing of garbage.

The Ministry of Environment had last year notified the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 to deal with the issue of the rapidly rising mountains of waste in landfills in urban areas due to lack of facilities for processing garbage.

According to the rules, responsibility for collection, segregation, processing and recycling of the trash sent to dumping grounds lies with the respective municipal councils of cities and urban areas.

According to an official, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has started providing help in the form of infrastructure and finance for efficient waste management in the states that lag behind.

Steps are being taken to achieve the goal of 100 per cent management of waste throughout the country by 2022, the official said.

Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Centre has allocated Rs 5023.96 crore for effective solid waste management.

States are also being provided techniques for using plastic waste towards making roads, in the cement industry and manufacture of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), the official said.