Scenario of Present and Future of Solid Waste Generation in India: A Case Study of Delhi Mega City

Abstract

Solid waste generation is the by-product of the Urbanization, rapid industrialization, population growth and migration from the country side. It is commonly considered as an Urban Issue. It is highly related with Economic growth, degree of industrialization and consumption pattern and lavish lifestyle of urbanites.   On one hand more generation of Solid Waste indicate the economic development but on the other it increases environmental stresses. Solid Waste generation and management is a burning issue all over the world and the planners and policy formulators are finding it extremely difficult to handle this problem mainly because of haphazard and unchecked urbanization. Solid Waste contributes 3% of total Green House Gases Emission Globally, which are culprit for Global Warming and Climate Change. Huge amount of Solid Waste generation and their improper management worsen the air quality in the cities which ultimately affect the human health severely.The problem of Municipal Solid waste management is much more acute environmental problems in mega cities like Delhi where land available for landfill sites is scarce. Agricultural land of Delhi has been grabbed by the unauthorized private colonizers and builders by changing the land use overnight. Delhi is the adobe of 14 million people out of which approximately half of the population (52%) population lives in slums and 1400 unauthorized colonies. In 2012, 900 colonies have been authorized or regularized providing bare minimum civic amenities.  In the present study, an attempt has been made to provide a comprehensive review of the present infrastructure available, the future requirements to manage Municipal Solid waste and the Organizations and agencies involved in it. The main aim of this paper is to quantify the present generation of Solid Waste and project the generation in future by projecting population growth in Delhi Mega City. This study will be proved to be an eye opener for the city planners, managers, stakeholders and different Organizations and agencies which are actively engaged in the Management of this “Urban Menace”.

Keywords: Solid Waste, Urbanization, Population, Green House Gases (GHGs)