Solid Waste management — an effort in despair
A case study of Dommasandra village, Sheegehalli Gram Panchayat, Bengaluru Urban district, Karnataka
By Srestha Roy
“The lake started overflowing and that became a huge concern which drove us to stop the waste dumping in the lake. Where would the waste be disposed was the question. It was then we thought of devising the system of collection of waste from each household” — says the determined lady Sarpanch as she signs the official papers sitting at her desk. Much has been her attempt after she came into position to take up this issue of waste management in Dommasandra village of Anekal block, Karnataka.
Dommasandra village is located in Bangalore East taluka of Bangalore district in Karnataka, India. According to the 2009 stats, Dommasandra village falls under Sheegehalli Gram Panchayat. The village covers an area of 107.81 hectares. The nearest town to the village is BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike) which is 6 kms away. The village has a population of 30000 with approximately 4500 households (as per the data in 2021 provided by the Panchayat office). The village is peri-urban in nature and is characterized by a huge influx of migrant population from various parts of Karnataka and other states in the past 5 years. There has been a surge in the waste generation in the Panchayat which gradually turned out to be a major issue. The village has about 150 shops and there are 3 market places for the vegetable vendors on a regular basis. Every Monday a market is set up for the farmers to sell their produce and people from the surrounding areas come to buy these fresh vegetables and fruits. The village has 4 educational institutions and one PHC.
The management of solid waste has been one of the major agenda being taken ahead by the State. The Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Management of Solid Waste) Model Bye-laws, 2020 mentions that every Gram Panchayat will have to prepare a detailed five-year planning in which they have to include implementation timelines, asset and infrastructure relating to Solid Waste Management (SWM), human resources, funding and monitoring evaluating parameters. The panchayat is also required to prepare a report on the basis of Micro-plans relating to collection mechanism and processing of solid waste. The state bye-laws for the management of SWM by gram panchayat clearly states that three buckets should be provided by the panchayat to every household under its purview: Green, Blue and Red. For the disposal and management of Solid waste, the State policies mention that every panchayat should incorporate a segregation unit, identify disposal landfills separately for sanitary waste and slaughterhouse waste.
The Sarpanch takes pride in mentioning that the waste collection system has been put in place after she came into position and expresses her content that atleast the lake is not flooded with waste deposition. As per a study undertaken in 2021 by Azim Premji University it has been estimated that the panchayat generates about 26 tonnes of waste per day of which a larger constituent is wet waste. Since Oct 2021, the Panchayat has outsourced the collection of waste from every household on a contract basis. The whole Panchayat is divided into 4 broad areas and each area is covered by the waste collectors on fixed days every week. The waste collecting agency is equipped with 4 autos and 2 Tata Aces presently for collection of waste. Each of the auto tippers has deployed 2 garbage collectors for each area. The unsegregated waste is collected and dumped into the 2 trucks which wait at the outskirts of the village. The trucks get filled every two days and the trucks de-load the waste at Yelahanka (65 kms from Dommasandra). It is a general practice to keep the unsegregated waste in a polythene packet and is handed over to the waste collectors by the households. The study shows that the current SWM services in the Panchayat have the capacity to collect only 40% of the entire waste generated.
The Panchayat claims that blue bins were distributed but none of them were used. There seems to be limited awareness among the citizens on the importance of waste segregation and the use of colored bins. A few illegal dumpsites still exist in public places — one just in front of the PHC. Inspite of repeated complaints by the street shop owners to the Panchayat, people seem to be less bothered about disposing garbage at public places. However, the residents of Dommasandra are quite satisfied with the present arrangement as they do not have to worry about disposing the waste and there is a regular system to take care of the same. When asked about if any tax is charged by the Panchayat, the response is no. So how much is the amount that the Panchayat pays to the waste collector and how sustainable is the same? The Sarpanch responds to the question in a conscious way that approximately Rs. 2 lakhs per month is paid to the contractor. But she is quite aware about the fact that the Panchayat needs to have financial resources to develop a well managed and sustained system of waste management within the Panchayat. “We take a look at the waste collection system and ensure that the waste collectors reach every household on the designated days every week. “ — says Solid Waste Management (SWM) committee member, Dommasandra Panchayat. 5 members from the Panchayat form the SWM committee which monitors the waste collection system within the Panchayat.
While the Panchayat has made certain efforts to device a mechanism of waste collection, it looks forward to develop a robust and sustainable method for solid waste management. They do have plans to execute the system but it has been realized that the whole approach would work with the support of the citizens, development of infrastructure in consultation with experts and regulations by the Panchayat. “We plan to have awareness generation programs through distribution of leaflets and involvement of schools.” — says SWM committee member. The panchayat has taken a major step by including the planning of the project in its Panchayat plan for the next financial year.
The Sarpanch of Dommasandra Panchayat mentions that land is a major issue in the Panchayat and they are not able to establish a segregation unit for the same. The Panchayat aims to collect segregated waste from the households and sell the organic manure derived from processing the kitchen waste to the village farmers. They plan to process the dry waste as well. Also, the panchayat realizes the need to understand the composition of the waste generated in terms of quantifying the wet and dry waste which will eventually lead to proper estimation of the waste handling process. There is need to access the services of expert institutions and thus develop a consensus in the Panchayat and pass a resolution in the Gram sabha as mentioned under the state bye laws. Training of the waste collectors for safe handling of the waste also requires intervention.
Dommasandra Panchayat and its efforts may be a case which reflects the hardships of many other Gram Panchayats which in spite of their strong urge to arrange for adequate management of solid waste are not able to due to lack of facilities or financial limitations. While the Panchayat has a plan to make the best use of the waste produced, there is a need to think through the whole cycle of waste management. Awareness generation regarding the importance of waste segregation as well as treatment of waste is necessary. However, unless there is enough demonstration on what happens to the waste generated, the motivation of the citizens to segregate the waste at the household becomes unachievable. At the sametime, infrastructure for waste segregation and processing is important. A smaller scale effort at the initial stage with the farmers and the rag pickers can be initiated. A tie up can be done with the farmers for the purchase of manure developed from kitchen waste. For the collection of dry waste, the rag pickers can be engaged with. The initiative can be upscaled at a later stage. A collective approach from the expert institutions understanding the need of the Panchayat will definitely bring sustainable solutions and transform their approach to a success.
