Waste Management

ಬುರಗುಂಟೆ ಗ್ರಾಮದ ಒಂದು ಮೂಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಬದಲಾವಣೆ ರೂಪಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದೆ - ಇದು ಅಡುಗೆಮನೆಯ ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಭೂಮಿಗೆ ಪೋಷಣೆಯಾಗಿ ಪರಿವರ್ತಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅದನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಕುಟುಂಬಗಳಿಗೆ ಆ ಗೊಬ್ಬರವು ಹಿಂದಿರುಗಿ ಆಹಾರ ಒದಗಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಸರಳ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಯಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾದ ಇದು ಈಗ ಲಲಿತಾ ಅಕ್ಕ ಎಂಬ ದೃಢನಿಶ್ಚಯವುಳ್ಳ ಮಹಿಳೆಯ ನೇತೃತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಮೂಹಿಕ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನವಾಗಿ ವಿಕಸನಗೊಂಡಿದೆ.  ಸರ್ಜಾಪುರದ ಆನೇಕಲ್ ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕಿನ ಬುರಗುಂಟೆ ಗ್ರಾಮದ ನಿವಾಸಿಗಳು, ನಗರ ಮತ್ತು ಪಟ್ಟಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಕಂಡುಬರುವ ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ ವಿಲೇವಾರಿ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸವನ್ನು ಬಹಳ ಹಿಂದಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಅನುಸರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು - ಅವರು ತಮ್ಮ ಮಿಶ್ರ ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಬಿಲ್ಲಾಪುರ ಗ್ರಾಮ ಪಂಚಾಯಿತಿಯಿಂದ ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸುವ ವಾಹನಕ್ಕೆ ಹಸ್ತಾಂತರಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಈ ವಾಹನವು ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಿದ ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಭೂಕುಸಿತಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಗಿಸುತಿತ್ತು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ಕಸವನ್ನು ಎಸೆಯಲಾಗುತ್ತಿತು ಅಥವಾ ಸುಡಲಾಗುತಿತ್ತು. ಬುರುಗುಂಟೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಸ್ಥಳೀಯರಿಗೆ ತಾವು ಅಳವಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ ವಿಲೇವಾರಿಯ ಅಭ್ಯಾಸದಿಂದುಂಟಾಗುವ ದುಷ್ಪರಿಣಾಮಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅರಿವಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಅನೇಕ ಜನರು ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಹಾಗೂ ಮನೆಯ ಅಂಗಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಸಾಡುವುದು ಮತ್ತು ಸುಡುತಿದ್ದರು, ಇದರಿಂದ ಅನೇಕ…

For over seven years, I have lived in a gated community in Thalambur, located behind Old Mahabalipuram Road, Chennai’s IT Corridor. This rapidly developing suburban area enjoys proximity to some of the city’s best infrastructure, including high-rise buildings and world-class offices. However, like many other suburban neighbourhoods in the city, the local administration lacks an efficient solid waste management system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we observed that mixed waste collected from communities was indiscriminately dumped near water bodies or on vacant land. This practice contributes to land, groundwater, and air pollution while releasing harmful greenhouse gases like methane, which contribute…

Muthulakshmi*, a sanitary worker contracted with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), begins her day at 4 am, travelling from her home in Kodungaiyur to South Chennai. After street cleaning, she and her co-workers use battery-operated vehicles (BOV) to collect household waste.  Few families practise waste segregation, leaving sanitary workers like Muthulakshmi to sort mixed waste themselves. Despite BOVs having separate bins, the process is time-consuming. This is where Micro Composting Centres (MCC) and Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) play a vital role. They provide dedicated spaces to sort waste and sell recyclables in exchange for incentives. However, the GCC’s decision to shut…

In urban areas, an unmistakable, overpowering stench often signals the presence of a waste processing facility in a neighbourhood. The foul odour emanating from these sites has long been a major concern for residents and civic authorities. It is also purportedly one of the main reasons behind the Greater Chennai Corporation's (GCC) recent decision to shut down 168 Micro Composting Centres (MCC) and 88 Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) across the city. Despite the challenges, these MCCs play a crucial role in Chennai’s decentralised waste management system. If foul odour and associated health concerns are the problem, a micro composting centre…

In a quiet corner of Buragunte village, a transformation has been taking shape — one that turns kitchen waste into nourishment for the land and, in turn, provides food for the families of the women who made it happen. What started as a simple conversation has now evolved into a collective effort, spearheaded by one determined woman, Lalitha Akka.  Residents of Buragunte village under Anekal Taluk in Sarjapura, had long followed the waste disposal practice most commonly observed in our cities and towns — they would simply hand over their mixed waste to the collection vehicle from Billapura Gram Panchayat,…

Gharapuri Island in the Mumbai Harbour, colloquially known as Elephanta Island and home to the UNESCO-listed Elephanta Caves, is more than just a historical treasure. Every year, thousands of tourists visit its rock-cut temples, admiring the intricate carvings and the island’s natural beauty. But with tourism comes an often-overlooked problem — waste management. Plastic wrappers, discarded bottles, and a poorly managed waste disposal system have long marred this culturally significant heritage site while threatening its ecological balance. For years, Elephanta Island has struggled with waste management issues, worsened by its remote location and heavy tourist influx. With no proper disposal…

Solid waste management is perhaps among the most overwhelming problems that Indian cities are grappling with today. But while the complexities around waste management in big cities are discussed widely, the challenges faced by smaller Indian cities and towns are even more complex due to limited scale, inadequate funding and institutional capacity constraints. Tier-1 and some Tier-2 cities have set up infrastructure and allocated resources for waste processing, but in general, small cities struggle to do so. As a result, waste processing in these cities is almost negligible, with only a few exceptions.   Chikkaballapura is a Tier-2 city located about…

The rise of fast fashion, coupled with citizens’ limited awareness about waste disposal, has led to a textile waste challenge in Bengaluru. The city generates 220 tonnes of textile waste everyday, which accounts for 4% of its municipal waste. Managing urban textile waste goes beyond collection, sorting, and recycling — it should also take into account the needs of the frontline workers, the waste picker community. To address this challenge, waste pickers, with support from NGOs, have developed multiple solutions. In the past few years, they have set up Bengaluru’s first textile waste processing centre, a decentralised system to provide…

A few months ago, our federation in South Chennai's Adyar area hosted a meeting with Urbaser Sumeet, the private garbage collection agency responsible for waste management in Besant Nagar, Adyar, and Thiruvanmiyur. This event was part of the Federation of Adyar Residents' Association's (FEDARA) regular catch-up meetings with the Urbaser team. It aimed to address residents’ feedback and get a clear understanding of the agency's challenges in garbage collection and segregation. The goal was to ensure that waste management continues to improve while fostering cooperation between the residents and the waste collection agency. Concerns about lack of source segregation The…

Plastic has been in use for about 120 years, initially invented in 1862 to replace elephant ivory and tortoise shells. The first synthetic plastic, made from cellulose nitrate, was a commercial success. Despite its usefulness, there is a dire need to restrict unnecessary plastic use. Certain types of plastic need to be eliminated altogether. Polyethylene bags, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, and polystyrene food containers are among the worst offenders. One million plastic bottles are sold worldwide every minute, while 500 billion single-use plastic bags are used every year, and this number is projected to increase. After a single use, many…