Articles by Pushkara SV

Pushkara SV is a practitioner at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru, and has experience operating large-scale municipal solid waste processing plants. His work has focused on improving the efficiency of waste collection, transportation, processing, and disposal. He has worked as a consultant to about 70 Urban local bodies across India under Swachh Bharat Mission. He has expertise in planning and designing documents for setting up integrated waste processing plants. He has worked on a wide range of projects on different technologies, including waste-to-composting plants, biogas plants, waste-to-energy plants, and construction & demolition waste processing, and has a deep understanding of the solid waste management sector in India.

Opinion: Why cities find it difficult to replicate Indore’s waste processing model

by October 13, 2022

Indore city has been declared the cleanest city in India for the 6th time in a row in the recently announced Swachh Survekshan 2022 results. Indore has consistently performed well in the Swachh Survekshan survey since 2017 due to its integrated approach to solid waste management and efficient waste processing. The city, with a population of nearly 2 million, generates about 1,900 tonnes of solid waste per day. The Indore Municipal Corporation has successfully integrated the collection, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste generated in the city.  What made this feat possible is the rigorous waste management system Indore…

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Why bioremediation is not a magic pill for India’s overflowing landfills

by February 24, 2021

In 2019, the Indore Municipal Corporation became the first Indian city to clear around 15 lakh tonnes of historic waste at landfills using a process called bioremediation. With overflowing landfills and the difficulty of finding new waste disposal sites, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across the country now look at the Indore project as an example worth emulating to clear out waste dumps at landfills. Cities like Bijapur, Davanagere, Doddaballapur, and most recently, Hassan and Gokak have already invited Expressions of Interest or tenders for conducting bioremediation. While this may result in reclaiming some land from waste disposal sites, several challenges…

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