India is witnessing a legacy waste, a cumulative consequence of decades of neglect and lack of foresight, and complete absence of urban planning, which has left India with mountains of waste-landfills, waste-choked drains, water bodies and rivers.
India generates about 275 million tonnes of waste per year and with current waste treatment rates of about 20-25 per cent, this leaves majority of waste untreated, in a heap, on landfills, and an equal amount in drains and river bodies. Drains and water bodies, emptying out into Indian rivers, also carry with them an unimaginable amount of waste. The Ganga is among the top 10 polluted rivers in the world, together accounting for 90 per cent of the total ocean plastic pollution.
There are about 48 recognised landfills across India, covering nearly 5,000 acres of land, with a total land value of about Rs 100,000 crore. An example in this regard is the Deonar dumpsite in Mumbai, which was set up in 1929 and is the oldest landfill in India. It covers about 325 acres and receives 5,500 metric tonnes of waste, 600 metric tonnes of silt and 25 tonnes of bio-medical waste daily. Mumbai city generates about 7,500 metric tonnes of waste daily. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recently commissioned a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant which will treat 600 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste every day. Clearly the plant is not positioned to deal with the everyday fresh waste.
India faces a mammoth challenge of treating and getting rid of the legacy waste, with continuous accumulation of fresh waste everyday. Central, state, city and municipal governments, over decades, have not been able to prevent this situation, nor deal with its scale. For a country the size of India, there are about 92 large WTEplants. Of these, only a small fraction is operational, and the plants that are operational, run at suboptimal capacity. State governments have, so far, invested an estimated Rs 10,000 crore in such plants.
India generates the most waste globally, and if urgent measures are not put into place, by 2050, our waste generation will double. A five point action— affordable tech, quick procurement, a new policy, skilled personnel, and the aim of a zero-waste society will help improve the situation.