Pune lessons for Mumbai in efficient waste management

“By integrating the informal sector into waste management, segregation is done as close to the source of the waste as possible. It contributes to reducing the cost of solid waste management significantly. The waste which eventually reaches the landfill is also reduced, therefore increasing the life of the landfill,” said Laxmi Narayan, general secretary of KKPKP. In Deonar, where the fire took place Thursday, there is no segregation of waste, with dry waste like plastic, metal and paper, adding to the smoke.

In Mumbai, the emphasis has been on centralised waste to energy plants, which Narayan argues, has contributed dismally to energy production in India. Currently, only Kanjurmarg has a waste to energy plant outsourced to a contractor. In Mulund and Deonar, only solid waste management is done. Narayan adds that in Pune also, the SWACH model is not the only one in place with a central waste to energy plant also functioning. “After much battles, the wastepickers have been given identity cards and medical insurance by the municipal corporation,” Narayan said. An attempt in this direction is being done in Mumbai by the Stree Mukti Sanghatana, an organisation which works with women. Jyoti Mhapsekar, the president of the group said that they had been advocating for implementaion of the Pune model but the support extended by BMC has not been consistent.

“Efforts can be made by NGOs but there also have to be support extended by the municipal corporation to set up a system where the model can work,” Mhapsekar said. Currently, the waste pickers associated with SMS have been given recycling sheds and vehicles in some wards but the system is not integrated consistently.

Throughout the city, despite a law, the Maharashtra Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 2006, there is no strict compliance of waste segregation in housing societies or encouragement of the setting up of biogas plants or composting.