90% of Indians concerned about improper waste management: Teri

60% of respondents in TERI survey felt that generating less waste at first place is best way to deal with waste management

Almost 90 per cent Indians felt the quality of environment had immediate health implications, with a vast majority showing concerns about solid waste management, a survey conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) said. The study showed 60 per cent of the respondents felt generating less waste at the first place was the best way to deal with waste management. But a little more than 50 per cent were not willing to segregate their waste into biodegradable and non-degradable as they thought it was the municipality’s job. Close to half the population surveyed complained about non-collection of garbage from their doorsteps.

Teri Director-General R K Pachauri said, “The public has to realise the benefits of solid-waste segregation.

“If we want to bring about improvement in environmental quality, the foundation on which any such effort would rest, would be on public awareness.”

However, on a positive note, 86 per cent people favoured a complete ban on polythene bags.

Further, 90 per cent of people were aware about the climate change phenomenon. While 80 per cent believed the mean temperature had risen, 63 per cent felt the average rainfall had declined.

The survey revealed a majority complained about a lag in policy implementation on all parameters including air pollution, water pollution, water supply, ground water, water conservation, waste management, forest conservation and climate change.

The survey noted that there had been improvement when it came to awareness related to water usage and electronic waste.

Over 70 per cent of the respondents were aware of the water being subsidized by the Centre and among them over half felt that water should be charged as per usage. Over 80 per cent people were aware of the problem of e-waste, and most of them either repaired or re-used electronic goods.

The survey titled ‘Environment Survey 2014’ was conducted in eight cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Indore, Jamshedpur, Kanpur and Pune with over 11,000 respondents and is the third such survey conducted by the organization.