MSW Management in Delhi

Pursuant to an order of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi, dated 28.04.1999, the Central Board is carrying out inspection and monitoring of MSW management in NCT-Delhi. During the year 2001, three rounds of inspection were carried out and reports submitted to the Hon'ble Court. Salient recommendations made in these reports are:

Ø      A Master Plan for Improvement of MSW Management in accordance with the guidelines prescribed in the Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2000, should be prepared; and,

Ø      The Master Plan has to take into account all the aspects of MSW management including primary collection, storage, transfer, transport and disposal, as recommended by the Central Board in their inspection reports. Implementation of the Master Plan should be carried out in a phased manner with time targets. Measurable indicators to evaluate the improvements achieved by the civic authorities should be identified.

Study on Compost Quality and its Application in Agriculture

The study covered the analysis of compost made up of municipal solid waste and the sewage sludge for their manure potential and toxicity due to heavy metals and pathogens, as well as their safe and economic application on agricultural land. The analysis of municipal waste compost has shown 1.26%N, 0.6%P and 0.29% K, and C/N ratio as 19.3 to 1. This compost was applied to supplement the inorganic nutrient requirement of maize crop and to replenish the organic matter content in cropped soils. Among 8 treatments each in three replicates on 5840 m² land at IARI, New Delhi, the treatment with 90 kg urea and 30 kg municipal waste compost/sewage sludge were found to be better in terms of yield. The harvest index was calculated as 45.63 and 45.03 from compost and sludge treated fields respectively in best found treatment with 90 kg urea and 30 kg municipal waste compost/sewage sludge.  Similar experiments have also been conducted with wheat and pea as Rabi crops.

Assessment of Existing Municipal Solid Waste Dump Sites

The study on the assessment of existing municipal solid waste dumpsites started with the aim to establish the impact on water and air pollution due to municipal waste dumpsites located at Autonagar and Golconda in Hyderabad city.

Autonagar MSW Dumpsite is spread over an area of about 47 acres and receives an average of 800 MT garbage per day. About 8.7 lakh m³ MSW has been dumped at this dumpsite, which weighs ~4.35 lakh tonnes. This dumpsite is in existence for more than 20 years.

Golconda MSW Dumpsite is spread over an area of about 36 acres and receives an average of about 340 MT/day of garbage. An approximate calculation shows that 6.67 lakh cubic metre MSW has been dumped at Golconda dumpsite, which weighs 3.3 lakh tonnes. This dumpsite is in existence for more than 40 years. The study reveals that:

§         Over a period of time, many residential colonies have come up in close vicinity to the dumpsite. The residents of these colonies face the problem of odour and suspended particulate matter due to dumpsite;

§         There are about 200 trucks/day/dumpsite for transportation of MSW;

§         The groundwater quality in surrounding area is deteriorating due to unscientific dumping on open land without any liner material to prevent leachates;

§         Around 30% of leachate infiltrates into groundwater regime below the dumpsite. The groundwater sample analysis and the leachate chemistry indicate seepage of leachate into groundwater;

§         Electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, nitrates and hardness values of groundwater samples in the downstrean area of dumpsites are higher compared to upstream areas, indicating possible contamination due to leachate from the dumpsite; and,

§         Other sources like human and animal wastes, agricultural activities and polluted stretch of Musi river may also be contributing to the higher concentration of nitrate in the downstream of dumpsite.

Assessment of Impacts of Completed and Existing Landfill Site

Bangalore

Open dumping practice is commonly adopted for disposal of solid waste, which causes deterioration of environmental quality. To improve the status of solid waste management in the cities, CPCB with the assistance of NEERI, Nagpur, has undertaken study for development of criteria for selection of site for sanitary landfill with the following objectives:

·        Development of criteria for selection of site for sanitary landfill compatible with Indian conditions;

·        Application of criteria to a typical Indian city like Bangalore in the following manner;

·        Macro-level study of waste management system in Bangalore so as to identify the land requirement for disposal of the solid waste generated in the city; and,

·        Identification of appropriate landfill site from the available alternate candidate sites in and around the city.

Methodology for site selection is being developed and validity of selection criteria is being tested for Bangalore city. At present, there are no specific disposal sites in Bangalore city and waste is disposed haphazardly along the road-sides and other places. Initially, the prevailing system of solid waste management in Bangalore is studied and the landfill requirement for the next 10 years is esimated on the basis of waste generation, its composition and present and proposed processing methods. It is estimated that the total quantity of waste generated in Bangalore is 1896 MT/day and the land requirement for disposal for next 10 years is 295.62 hectares.

Bangalore Mahanagar Palike has identified 4 landfill sites - Kannahalli, Medhiagrahara, Gidennhalli and Seegehalli - for landfilling. Studies on various aspects like environmental parameter, hydrological status, soil characteristics, etc. have been conducted for these sites. The validity of the criteria will be tested and modified, for its adoption for other Indian cities.

Kanpur

CPCB has undertaken a study on Assessment of Impact of the Existing and completed Municipal Landfill Sites at Kanpur, with assistance from National Productivity Council. The objective is to assess the impact of landfills on the surroundings and to prepare an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for these landfill sites. Major findings of the study carried out so far are as follow:

Ø      The expected period of the operation of the landfills is 10-15 years;

Ø      The organic content in the municipal solid waste is about 30-35%;

Ø      All the landfill sites are surrounded by inhabited areas/villages and agricultural fields;

Ø      At the active sites (Krishna Nagar and Panki), moderate to high levels of dusts and gases were found in ambient air due to various landfilling activities, lighting of fire by ragpickers and also automobiles;

Ø      Groundwater analysis around the site does not show any significant contamination. COD is in the range of 20-50 mg/litre and TDS is in the range of 300-2000 mg/litre;

Ø      Major surface water bodies are away from landfill sites, therefore chances of their contamination is remote; and,

Ø      Presence of methane in ambient air has been observed. Further studies are going on to determine the exact concentration level and flux.