How to clean up the mess

To improve civic amenities and solid waste management, a more aware citizenry can do its bit

A few weeks ago, I had written a piece on garbage and how the country seems to be filling up with dumpsites and unsorted trash. We can all see the magnitude of the problem if we stop to look around us and we can also see how little is being done to deal with it. Almost every few days, there are news stories in the dailies of courts asking municipal officials to grab a broom and get working — orders that seem to be falling on deaf ears so far.
 
But of late, as the magnitude of the problem grows, I have met a few people working in the area and some private individuals who have plunged in themselves and have realised that even at an individual level, there are things we can each do to make a small difference. These are my learnings from them that I think are worth sharing.

 
Although the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) is well intentioned, it is not able to fully tackle the problem of solid waste management — which remains a matter under state jurisdiction. The focus at the central level remains making India open defecation-free while door-to-door collection of garbage, segregating and sorting remains under municipal control. The municipalities in most states continue to work in a lackadaisical and indifferent manner, if at all. None of the urgency of the SBA has seeped into their running.
 

One of the biggest problems in solid waste management remains lack of awareness and the dangers of not doing what is required. The city-wide bubonic plague in Surat in 1994 was primarily caused by improper solid waste management. Clogged sewers and drains accentuated the problem — if not caused it — during the Mumbai floods of 2006. The story repeated itself when Chennai was hit by floods in 2015. Time and again, the failure to manage solid waste has compounded — and occasionally led to — the damage wreaked by natural disasters.

 
Why some states fare better is because their citizens demand more and force the government’s hand. Kerala is an example. A more aware and cohesive citizenry with common interests demand its rights and coerces the government and municipal authorities to do their duties. Inequality of income in large metros like Delhi and Mumbai leads to a divide and allows the authorities to get away with laxity. The rich pay to keep the areas around them clean; the poor are too wretched and lack both unity and awareness to demand anything, more often than not they are unaware of their rights. It results in cities with pockets of spotlessly clean areas intermingled with areas strewn with garbage.

 
People who work in the area also say that citizens can on their own do more. Even tiny initiatives help and all steps add up. Earlier, even in richer areas and upmarket colonies in large cities it was not uncommon to find people asking their help to throw their garbage in empty plots nearby. But I do think this is changing in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. Of course it has helped that there are no empty plots anymore, but also there is a greater awareness. In Gurgaon for instance, several resident communities have come together to manage their waste better. They sort and segregate, pay for private services to collect the waste and in many cases are composting in their apartments. A number of women are actively encouraging others to follow suit. They are both more aware and willing to take the trouble to not only do it themselves but also spread the message. It’s heartening to see as they are leading by example. Similarly, in Bengaluru many apartment complexes and bulk waste generators — partly forced by law — manage their own waste. Let me add here that law is not the problem in India. Laws are aplenty (take a look at the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016). It’s the implementation that remains an issue.

 
Last but by no means the least, I am delighted to report that a state that wants to do it can. I am just back from a trip to Madhya Pradesh’s commercial hub, Indore, and I am yet to come to terms with what a government can achieve if it so desires. In 18 months, the city of Indore has done what many cities would not be able to achieve in years. Since this is a separate — and marvellous — story for me I won’t elaborate too much here except to say that if there is a will, there is definitely a way. Indore is a shining example of this.