After any major event, more often than not, the next day’s news is about how much waste was collected and cleaned up from the city. For example, after Ganpati Visarjan on September 17th around 550 metric tonnes of waste was collected. Few months before that, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cleared 11,000 kg of garbage after the victory parade at Marine Drive celebrating India’s T20 world cup win.
This is just to illustrate that Mumbai has a major garbage problem. But it is not only on such events that waste management is a challenge. With 6300 metric tonnes of garbage being produced every single day, waste management should be a top priority for the civic body and the citizens.
However, when Citizen Matters recently explored the issue of garbage disposal in Mumbai in a three-part series that looked into how garbage is managed, types of waste and recycling, we found that the city is in the throes of a waste management crisis.
Can people drive the waste management movement?
According to the Praja report on civic issues, it was found that the biggest source of waste – over 70% – was food waste in Mumbai. Though it is completely biodegradable, it still ends up in the landfills day after day, underscoring the fact that the goal of making Mumbai a zero waste city by 2030 is a distant dream.
Though the responsibility of waste management rests with the BMC, activists point out that the people have an equal role to play in reducing and managing garbage at source. This means we as people not only need to cut down on the waste we generate, but also dispose it effectively at source – through recycling or composting – so that the landfills are not burdened.
Read more: Bandra citizens combine technology and collective action to clear garbage dump
Video discussion on waste management
Citizen Matters spoke at length to Lillian Paes, civic activist and trustee of Mumbai Citizen Forum, who has been involved in various waste management initiatives. She discussed the challenges faced by the BMC, role of the people and the urgent need to get going on efficient garbage disposal.
Lillian does not mince words while asking for punitive action against defaulters and miscreants. However, more importantly, she questions our lifestyle choices of consuming more, ordering online and ending up with excessive packaging, and urges people to be more mindful.
Giving the example of the success of removal of garbage near the Jewish cemetery in Bandra, she emphasises the importance of working with the civic body and rigorous follow ups in case of unresolved issues. Even as the BMC tries different measures to address the mounting waste, we can start with reducing waste and treating as much as possible at source – in our homes, society and neighbourhood.