R e v i e w A r t i c l e GOOD GOVERNANCE AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF LEGISLATIVE REGULATIONS IN INDIA

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1 Open Access Scientific Publisher R e v i e w A r t i c l e GOOD GOVERNANCE AND SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF LEGISLATIVE REGULATIONS IN INDIA Vaishali Gupta 1, Sushma Goel 2, T. G. Rupa 2 1 Lady Irwin College, 1 Sikandara Road, New Delhi Department of Resource Management and Design Application, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, India ABSTRACT Correspondence should be addressed to Vaishali Gupta Received February 20, 2016; Accepted February 24, 2016; Published February 26, 2016; Copyright: 2016 Vaishali Gupta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Cite This Article: Gupta, V., Goel, S., Rupa, T.(2016). Good governance and solid waste management: An overview of legislative regulations in India. Journal of Business & Management Studies, 2(1).1-9 Across the political and economic spectrum in India society, natural resources play an important role in providing good quality of life to individuals. Management of solid waste has become a major issue affecting nations around the world. Rapid urbanization, increasing population and unplanned development clubbed with the problem of solid waste management in the country is worsening every day. In an effort to build a resource efficient India, it is important to improve waste management practices. With the changing perspective, there is a need to understand the ecological concern and evaluate past policies, frameworks and strategies developed for a sustainable ecosystem. After been neglected for long, SWM is slowly receiving momentum and towns across the country are demonstrating successful models of effective operating systems and infrastructure changes making it possible to monitor waste and make country waste free. The present paper reviews the existing legal policies and profiles available for management of solid waste in India. It makes use of database, legislative policies, programmes and regulations to instill a common approach for management of environment. KEYWORDS: Solid Waste Management, Municipalities, Urban Local Bodies (ULB s), Regulatory framework, India. INTRODUCTION Waste is an issue that affects all human beings. Waste generation has a huge impact on the environment and emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to change in climate and loss of significant materials. Not only is the amount of waste produced by humans increasing but its nature is also changing. There has been a shift from biodegradable to non-biodegradable waste, which is a complex combination of materials that are difficult to decompose. With improving technologies and development of new materials like plastic, the quantities of recyclable material is decreasing by the day[1]. According to Environmental Protection Act (EPA)[2] 1990, waste can be defined as any material scrap, effluent, undesired or excess that requires removal because it is damaged, old, adulterated or spoiled [3]. It is not just any unwanted or discarded material but a resource. India is a diverse developing society, which provides enormous challenges in the political, social, economic, cultural and environmental sector. The present scenario reflects on these foundational aspirations and to maintain 1

2 harmony and balance it is essential to develop a sustainable philosophy [4]. Increased population, rapid urbanization, migration to urban sectors and changing lifestyles are some of the factors that are shifting India from a largely rural country to an urban nation but at a cost. On the one hand, there is rural India, which is agricultural in nature, while on the other; it is urban India that is becoming increasingly unmanageable [5]. The growth story over the last few decades indicates an enormous increase in the volume of industrial as well as domestic waste (Figure 1) [6] [7]. Figure 1.1: Classification of waste 2 According to the report prepared by European Business and Technology Centre[5] in 2011, India generates over 160,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) of municipal waste every day, which is expected to increase to 260 MT/day by The per capita generation of solid waste in cities ranges from 0.2 kg to 0.8 kg, which is expected to increase at a rate of 1.33% annually. Failing to develop a sustainable system for waste management will cost India more than it can handle. On an average, 32,000 people are added to our country every day and this will continue till These numbers are alarming considering the status of waste management infrastructure in India. Around the world, the rate of urbanization is ahead of rate of increase in sanitation infrastructure by 33%, but in India, this gap is very broad as a result of impromptu response of government to handle waste management issues, indicating a missing plan of action to improve waste management in the country [8]. Functional elements of waste According to UNEP[9], management of waste includes two components prevention and disposal. While Waste prevention aims at dropping the overall quantities of waste to reduce the harm done to environment, Waste Disposal involves collection, segregation, handling, transportation and the final disposal of waste. The priority of waste prevention and waste disposal is to attempt maximum extraction of components and minimum overall waste generated which can be achieved through 3 R s Reduce, Reuse and Recycle[10]. For effective management of waste and to help reduce adverse impacts on the environment and human health; a number of processes are involved like monitoring, collection, transport, processing, recycling and disposal [11]. The activities associated with the management of municipal solid wastes from the point of generation to final disposal can be grouped into six functional elements: (Figure 2).

3 Figure 2: Functional Elements of Solid waste management in India NEW APPROACHES TO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA In an attempt to improve industrial and economic growth of the country, Indian has fallen behind in paying attention to management of solid waste, which is leading to unfavorable impact on the ecology, and health and safety of people. More the harm done to the environment, greater will be the effort required to restore nature to its original form 9. In India, various rules and policies have been designed and implemented concentrating on management of waste[12]. In an attempt to fulfill its duty towards environment, the Government of India undertook various projects, set committees and designed several polities to regulate the management of waste in the country. Following is the list of attempts made by the Indian Government at the Central Level. Policies on Solid Waste Management: i. The National Environment Policy (2006) The National Environmental Policy formulated in May 2006 is the outcome of broad consultation with experts from various disciplines. Attempting to expand the coverage and fill the spaces existing in the previous regulations, The National Environment policy aims to conserve critical environmental resources and convert them into policies, programs and projects for social and economic development of the country. It also concentrates on efficient use of environmental resources to reduce the impact on ecology and application of environmental governance for effective management[4]. ii. The National Action Plan for Climate Change (2009) The Plan designed to deal with challenges of climate change was implemented through eight missions. One of the missions of the plan National Mission in Sustainable Habitat highlighted the importance of improving building energy efficiency, improving public transportation and management of solid waste in the country. Development of technology for energy generation, sewage utilization and optimum recycling were other components of the action plan[13]. Judicial interventions on SWM: i. Committee on Urban Waste (1972): One of the earliest known committees to study solid waste management was set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The committee aimed at obtaining in-depth information from Southeast Asian countries and multiple urban local bodies to identify the best practices in SWM. Submitted in 1975, the report presented various recommendations on different aspects of SWM collection, segregation, transportation and disposal. It also presented a comparative assessment of performance by Municipal authorities in some states and highlighted the need to develop an enacting model of legislation[14]. ii. Bajaj Committee (1994): - The increasing problem of waste in cities and the slow rate of development of effective SWM strategies demanded the Central 3

4 Government to set up a High Power committee on urban solid waste management in India, which was popularly known as the Bajaj Committee. The report made large number of practical recommendations related to segregation of waste at source, setting up primacy collection units, composting and recycling and providing appropriate equipment and vehicles for transportation of waste[15]. plants in the city limits and issued the directive for the right fuels and appliances that could be used. The Environment Protection Act of 1986, Hazardous waste (management and handling) Rule (1989), Bio-medical wastes (management & handling) Rule (1988) and Recycled Plastics (manufacture and usage) Rule (1989) were other laws introduced to help curb generation of waste and save environment[25]. iii. iv. Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India (1996) A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court against the Government of India and municipal authorities in 1996 for their failure in managing MSW. It was submitted as a special Civil Application (Application No. 888 of 1996) where the Supreme Court appointed an expert committee of 8 members that consulted around 300 municipal authorities, various stakeholders and submitted their final report titled Solid Waste Management in Class I Cities to the Supreme Court in March The 100 page report consisted of technical aspects of managing different types of waste, administrative requirements, capacity building, institutional management of information system, public awareness, and legal actions obligations to be taken by Central government, state authorities and Class I cities to address the problem of Municipal solid waste management effectively[16]. Asim Burman Committee (1999) When PIL failed to bring a change, the Supreme Court of India formed a committee to review the condition of SWM practices in Class I cities in July, The commission was constituted under the chairmanship of Mr. Asim Burman, tabled the report in March 1999 giving a wide range of suggestions for improving the system of waste management which included support measures that should be extended from Central and state governments for effective strategy planning[17]. v. The CAG Audit on Municipal Solid Waste in India (December 2008) The Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) performed an audit on Management of Waste in India in 2008, which included 24 states to identify loopholes and weaknesses in the policies related to management of waste. Municipalities of many cities were found guilty of poor monitoring of waste, degraded quality of data and lack of accountability that was leading to ineffective waste management in the country[18]. 4 Apart from the listed regulations, action committees and rulings given by the government of India, some other laws were also introduced at the national level to help curb generation of waste and assist in efficient handling of waste (Table 1) Law of torts, The Indian Penal court (1860), Code of Civil procedure (1908), Constitution of India (1950) - to name a few. The Water (prevention and control of pollution) Act, 1974, highlighted the importance of cleaning water bodies and prohibited the use of streams for disposal of polluting matter. The Air (prevention and control of pollution) Act, 1974, restricted certain industrial

5 Table 1. New Approaches to Solid Waste Management in India In addition, to the regulations laid and policies introduced by the government, some states have introduced guidelines for 5

6 promoting healthy waste collection, handling and disposal practices. Some of the Municipal Corporation Acts launched include Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (1959), The Delhi Plastic Bag (Manufacture, Sales and Usage) and nonbiodegradable garbage (Control) Act (2000), UP Municipal Corporation Act (1959) and Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act (1976)[26][28]. 6 Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rule, 2000 In the midst of various policies and committees, the Government of India with Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) notified the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rule on September 25, The main objective of the rule was to devise scientific procedures to dispose municipal solid waste effectively. It also made every municipal authority responsible for implementation of all provisions in their territory to develop an effective system for collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of waste[29]. The Rule also sets different responsibilities to be fulfilled by every stakeholder. i. Municipal Authorities: Accountable for active implementation of the rule and infrastructural development in their territory. Besides this, municipal authorities must take permission from the state board/ committee before setting up any processing or disposal facility to comply with healthy implementation of the program. ii. State Government and Union Territory Administration: It is the responsibility of the incharge of the Department of Urban Development of every state and union territory to ensure complete enforcement of the provisions of the rules in their cities and within the provisional limits of their jurisdiction. iii. State Board/ Central Pollution Control Board: The board monitors the compliance standards set by the rule concerning ground water characteristic, purification of air, leachate quality and quality of compost and is also responsible for giving grants and acceptance for setting up a processing or waste disposal facility in accordance with other agencies like Urban Development Department, Planning Department and Ground Water Board. Board gets a time frame of 45 days to accept or reject the request to stipulate the customary standards and criteria. iv. Citizens: The Citizens of the country are expected to understand and act responsible for making an attempt to segregate waste at the source, avoid littering on the streets and participate actively in sustainable waste management practices. Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rule, Draft Notification (2013) In a significant ruling, a Division Bench of Honorable High Court of Karnataka directed the MoEF to consider various objections filed against the controversial amendments and propose a comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rule The direction was issued in response to PIL filed by Bengaluru based nonprofit Environment support group against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palika (BBMP) and MoEF. The submission questioned MoEF s notification regarding invitation for comments and suggestions for Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rule, 2013 and felt the proposed modifications were highly retrograde and promoted unjustified, unscientific and unnecessary techniques for management of solid waste. The court also identified that the proposed amendments had omitted Schedule II of the existing ruling, which laid down the details for handling of waste segregation[30]. Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rule, Draft Notification, (2015) Even after listing the MSW (Management & Handling) Rule, 2013 in the gazette of India, not much action was taken over it. In a recent development, draft notification of MSW (M&H) Rule 2015 will soon be listed by MoEF under public domain for objections and suggestions on the proposal. The new rule focuses on waste generators and suggests source segregation in three different streams bio-degradable / wet waste, non-biodegradable waste/ dry waste and domestic hazardous waste in different bins/bags to be handed over to waste collectors at the time of collection 31. Implementation Agencies MoEF is the nodal agency responsible for implementing and streamlining the system of municipal solid waste management in India. Apart from this, Municipal Solid Waste Manual was published in 2000 by CPHEEO (Central Public Health Environmental Engineering Organization) under MoUD (Ministry of Urban development) to aid execution of these rules 32. The rules related to municipal, plastic and bio-medical are applied at the State level and it is the responsibility of Municipalities & ULB s (Urban Local Bodies) to implement and monitor the laws related to collection, segregation, storage, transportation, processing and disposal of solid waste 19. Ministry of Law has also been assigned the task of preparing legal framework in connection with state governments and effective implementation of policies. Status Compliance with Solid Waste Management in India More than a decade after the implementation of various rules and policies initiated by the Government of India; state municipalities, ULB s and private companies of many states failed to initiate the measures of solid waste management 5. Paucity of resources, inability to outsource activities, lack of in-house capabilities, insufficient funds & staff and low level of implementation are some reasons for

7 failure of implementation of legislative policies in many cities and states (Figure 3) [33][34]. Amidst the lack of efficiency, it is also important to mention the respectable work initiated by cities like Namakkal (Tamil Nadu) and Suryapet (Telangana) which have managed to become nodustbin, zero-waste cities. Figure 3: Status of compliance of municipal solid waste (management & handling) rule, 2000 Reasons for Non-compliance with Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rule, Collection of Waste Segregation of Waste Storage of Waste Transportation of Waste Disposal of Waste L a c k o f a w a r e n e s s a n d motivation Unavailability of primary c o l l e c t i o n v e h i c l e s a n d equipment Insufficient response from citizens & Lack of financial support Difficulty in motivating slum dwellers Lack of personnel door-to-door collection and sustainable containers Frequent Absenteeism of sanitary workers Unavailability of sanitary workers on Sundays and public holidays - Lack of wide publicity through electronic and print media Lack of public awareness and motivation resulting in poor response from citizens Lack of interest on how to use separate bins for storage and recyclables Lack of sufficient knowledge of benefits of segregation Lack of cooperation and negative attitude of people & missing finances to create awareness Difficulty of educating slum dwellers Lack of effective legal remedy Lack of Public awareness, motivation and education Lack of civil sense and bad habits among people to litter Lack of cooperation from h o u s e h o l d s, t r a d e a n d commerce Easy panel provision Lack of litter bins & huge distance between community bins Resistance to change attitude & S h o r t a g e o f s t o r a g e containers Inappropriate planning for waste storage depots High maintenance of old vehicles used for collection Lack of financial resources & technical know-how Lack of skilled personnel& Unavailability of appropriate land Lack of basic facility to set up treatment plants Lack of institutional capacity& road infrastructure M i s s i n g v e h i c l e s f o r inaccessible areas and narrow lanes Lack of financial resources Lack of engineering skills Lack of technical support L a c k o f k n o w l e d g e o n scientific disposal of waste Unavailability of appropriate land Lack of institutional capacity Successful initiatives by state governments and local authorities to handle solid waste Local Authorities and RWA s (Resident Welfare Associations) are also making their efforts to improvise and use different techniques and technologies for handling waste. Following are some of the success stories from across India: i. Surat, Gujarat: Within a time period of 18 months, the city shifted from stinking, dirty, garbage strewn to one of the cleanest city in the world. The RWA of Sarita Vihar With the efforts of local authorities and citizens, the city was able to spread awareness and educate people, introduce grievance redressal cards and imposed fines to become a role model for other municipalities[35]. ii. Sarita Vihar, Delhi: One of the very first colonies to take up this initiative of becoming a zero waste colony in Delhi was Sarita Vihar. The RWA s of Sarita Vihar had waste management as top priority and organized awareness generation camps, capacity building workshops and cleanliness drive for the inmates to promote the concept.. They also indulged in sßource segregation and on-site composting of waste in the neighborhood community park[36]. iii. Kerela: There are various examples from the state of Kerela. Chanukkara Village in Alappuzha district is a very good example of community, Panchayat and NGO partnership. With the help of Social Economic Unit Foundation (SEUF), a Local NGO entered into a partnership with the community to decentralize household waste through community education and awareness building. More than 90% of the community participates in the practice and sets a great example for the entire country. iv. Kovalam: started a Zero waste campaign in association with the transport department and established a biogas plant for biodegradable waste, a resource recovery center for non-biodegradable discards, material substitution for products out of waste. Other things included poison free farming, water conservation and community capacity building for managing waste in the area[37]. v. Nashik, Maharashtra : The city has establised a compost factory for converting waste into valuable compost and manure. The garbage from city centres is mechanically seperated before sending it was composting. With the support of the locals Nasik has been able to treat 230 MT of waste/ day and help farmers with organic maure in and around the city[38]. vi. Rajasthan: The state government of Rajasthan issued a policy document in 2001 for management of solid waste. The document highlights the criteria for selection of private stakeholders for setting up waste to energy plants, the types of 7

8 8 facilities exptended to citizens and the responsibility of various stakeholders. There are many stories of the efforts made by people across the county. Various organizations and NGO s are supporting and educating people to promote and develop a habit of environment conservation. CONCLUSION In order to meet the challenges of municipal solid waste management, there is a need for technological advancements, community awareness and implementation of good waste management practices. Increasing public awareness about degrading health and environment is becoming a cause of concern for society. It is putting more and more pressure on Central and state level governing bodies to find sustainable solutions to the problem of municipal solid waste management. There is a need to address the problem at the grass root level to find lasting solutions. It can be seen that the current laws and regulations are unable to make an impact for obtaining sound environment. 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