Why India's waste management stinks

Mr Bisen writes that India is at a crossroads: Either it can seek a new solution to waste management or benefit from new technologies and experiences of other countries

India ranks among the world’s 10 biggest producers of waste today and is projected to be in the top four within the decade. Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has been successful in raising awareness that the nation urgently needs to be cleaned, the fact is that five years since its launch, the country continues to reel under growing mountains of waste. Ankur Bisen’s Wasted: The Messy Story of Sanitation in India, a Manifesto for Change  examines India’s sanitation challenge, tracing it to its historical and cultural roots. 

The questions aren’t new, but they still manage to raise a