Mountain of garbage

Why is the city stinking? 4200 tonnes of solid waste is produced per day and GHMC can handle only half of it

Aditya Parankusam

The city of Hyderabad has developed by leaps and bounds. Over the past decade-and-a-half there has been a substantial increase not only in the revenues, population etc but also in consequential solid wastes. It is alarming to note that during the boom period, the solid wastes grew by 168%. With such a mind-blogging increase, it has become a herculean task for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to clear waste from the dumpsters and sending them to the dumping ground in Jawaharnagar every day. In most areas of the city, dumpsters are cleared only once a week, forcing the people in the nearby areas to get used to the foul smell emanating from garbage heaps.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the last decade has done a survey on the municipal waste estimation in 59 cities and towns, thrice. The shocking results from the survey show that over the past decade municipal wastes increased by 44% in Chennai, 85% in Bengaluru and 168% in Hyderabad. Experts attribute it to increase in the population over the past decade. But the increase in the population in Chennai and Bengaluru is more than that of the city.

According to the report, the city produces 4200 tonnes of solid waste per day, while the city has a capacity only to handle 2500 tonnes per day. The city has both a formal and informal system of clearing wastes. It should be noted that per day nearly 100 tonnes of waste is cleared for recycling by rag pickers. The capacity of dumping yard at Jawaharnagar is only 2400 tonnes. The garbage at that yard is either burned or used as landfill and only a small part of it is recycled. Though there are systems to collect dry and wet waste separately from households, that is not happening and most of the segregation is being done at the yard. There are complaints galore against GHMC authorities that they are burning and letting people to burn garbage on the roads and in dumpsters.

When garbage is burnt it releases a harmful dioxin. If inhaled for a period of time they will have adverse effects on respiratory system. The GHMC under the public private partnership with Ramky group is undertaking the Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Project at Jawaharnagar. The PPP will be taking up construction of a four-stage garbage-to-power plant to utilise 2,400 tonnes of garbage generating 48mw power daily.

A senior scientist with APPCB told Hyderabad Hans, “The change in lifestyle and habits are leading to an increase in the quantity of municipal wastes. Takeaway and curry point culture is the biggest culprit. Hectic construction activity that takes place day in and day out in the city is also the reason. People are also to be blamed, as most have the habit of dumping things after when they change their house”.

Over the decade the city has seen an increase in municipal waste by a staggering 168%. A survey done by CPCB says that the city produces 4200 tonnes of waste per day, while it is only armed with a dumpyard that has a capacity of 2400 tonnes.

Sweden buys Norway's trash (and lots of it)

Sweden is hungry for trash and has turned to Norway for an offer it would find hard to refuse, no pun intended. Sweden is asking its neighbour for trash. Sweden's success is its problem. Sweden is a model recycler. Thanks to a highly efficient waste management system in Sweden, the vast majority of this household waste can be recovered or reused. As a result, Sweden has run short of garbage. Since it does not produce enough burnable waste for its energy needs, Sweden is suffering a downside for being such an enviable model of recycling. The average trash in Europe that ends up as waste is 38 per cent. Sweden's is 1 percent.

In Sweden, some of its waste is either recycled or is decomposed. Sweden has turned to neighbouring countries for their excess waste. It is on an import drive of 8,00,000 tons of trash from the rest of Europe per year to use in its power plants. Much of the import is coming from Norway. Norway is amenable to the agreement as exporting a portion of its trash is more economical than having to burn it. In the plan, toxic waste, ashes remaining from the incineration process, filled with polluting dioxins, will be returned to Norway.