‘Largest garbage dumps are in the poorest areas’

NEWDELHI: The municipal corporations of Delhi have ignored waste management and disposal in its poorest neighbourhoods, finds a new study by the Center for Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Hubert H Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.

Waste collection is not 100% in most cities. The per capita illegally dumped garbage in low socio-economic status neighbourhoods is 61kg compared to only 2.6 to 3.5kg in rich neighbourhoods, the study has found.

Similarly, the quantity of waste dumped per square kilometre (sqkm) is the highest in poor areas—about 5,336 tonnes per sqkm, which is 100 times more than the quantity in high socioeconomic status areas.

This uncollected waste is estimated to be about 5.57 lakh tonnes, according to the study, about 62 times higher than Delhi’s daily waste generation.

Ajay Nagpure, post doctorate research associate at University of Minnesota and the author of the study, used a transect method wherein researchers travel along a street or road and record waste piles. This was combined with manually weighing waste piles and 3D sensor scanning technology to quantify mass and composition of waste dumps. The study was published in the Elseiver Journal of Resources, Conservation and Recycling recently.

Nagpure studied four neighbourhoods — Brijpuri, Bhogal, Jangpura Extension and Safdarjung Enclave — and concluded that only 67% of the waste generated in poor neighbourhoods is transported to landfills while 97% to 99% of the waste from rich neighbourhoods reaches landfills. “The poor neighbourhoods solely depend on the municipal corporation and there is no private waste collector. This comparison indicates the current public waste management infrastructure is not enough,” he said.