Swachh Bharat Mission needs to be people-driven

When the apex court of the land, the Supreme Court of India, stressed, yet again, on February 24 that segregation of garbage starts at home, that it is a practice which is of vital importance for the well-being of the environment, it is no less than a clarion call not just to the denizens of Delhi state, but to the Indians at large. The urgency and angst with which it drove home the message rekindled memories of how governments, civic bodies and civil societies have been calling upon people and organisations that the Earth is not a bin to throw waste within.

The Bench of Justices A S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan also pertinently wondered how any smart city project would fructify unless there is proper segregation of waste at the source in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. Attaching great importance to the matter on hand concerning solid waste disposal in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Supreme Court appointed even an amicus curiae which in legal terminology means a “friend of the court”, an individual or an organisation who offers information or perspective to a court on the case concerned. In this case, the amicus curiae and senior advocate Aparajita Singh, informed the court that waste-to-energy projects taken up to tackle mounds of garbage and recycle them would fail in the absence of waste segregation at home.

What is this waste segregation in the first place? It is a practice at homes to sort your household garbage into ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ bins. Wet waste essentially means organic waste i.e., food scraps, while dry waste refers to recyclable materials such as paper, plastic, glass. Segregation will greatly cut down on reducing landfill waste and, in turn, adverse environmental impact. In the case of industrial units, there is a need for special care, following duly laid down norms, to dispose of hazardous waste such as corrosive, toxic, ignitable or reactive material.

The ‘green sutra’ so crucial for waste segregation at home is rooted in the realisation waste is not inherently useless and that it is merely a resource in the wrong place. Then, the logical course that follows is recycling the segregated waste. Yes, India does have a sound regulatory framework in its place, but success has been limited for want of a behavioural change among the people, especially women folk at home. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” must kick off earnestly at homes, the source of the problem. There is a greater imperative for government, NGOs and concerned citizens to join hands to assiduously promote waste segregation at home. It may be recalled that India generates about 50 million tonnes of solid waste annually. This is projected to treble by 2050, given that India is the fastest growing economy and there is a hunger for consumption. Add to it around 78,000 metric tons of plastic waste and scrap that India imports annually from countries like the United States and Canada.

Solid waste management is becoming a serious challenge in the country. Many places in the country are already chocking on polluted air due to solid waste burning. Way back in 2014, the Planning Commission drew attention to the issue and called for roping in informal sector such as rag pickers by incentivising their occupations. More sops were called for recycling industries, but in vain. Now that the Supreme Court Bench directed all the State governments to set out a solid plan for enforcement of waste management regulations with timelines, it is hoped that authorities would act earnestly act, and not sweep the issue under the carpet.