A Comparative Study of Municipal Solid Waste Management Status for Three Major Towns of Upper Assam-India

Abstract

IntroductionIt is estimated that population of India would increase from 1029 million to 1400 million during the year 2001-2028, by 42% at the rate of 5.2% annually. There are near about 852 million people live in rural areas and 325 million live in urban areas. The estimated rate of urbanization of India has increased from 26.5% to 38% in the last 50-60 years and which is expected to rise unto 44% by the year 2026. It is an interesting fact that, in India there is sharp increase in the numbers of metro cities from 23 to 35 in the last few years. The population in Class I cities (metropolitan cities), urban centres and metro cities is having a population of more than 1 million [1]. This conglomeration of urban centres is generating Municipal Solid Waste estimated to 1.3 billion tonnes every year, and expected to increase up to 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025 [2]. Annually, Asia alone generates 4.4 billion tonnes of solid wastes and MSW comprise 790 million tonnes (MT) of which about 48(6%) MT are generated in India [2,3]. By the year 2047, MSW generation in India, is expected to reach 300 MT and land requirement for disposal of this waste would be 169.6 km 2 [3]. This represents a significant increase in per capita waste generation rates from 1.2 kg to 1.42 kg per person per day in the next fifteen years [3]. However, global averages are broad estimates only as rates vary considerably by region, country, city, and even within cities. Rapid urbanization with accelerated industrial growth is a key factor of urban waste generation. Urban waste is a major environmental issue which directly relates with human health concern [4]. In most of the developing countries, municipal solid waste disposal has been a chronic problem, particularly in areas with high population density, high production of refuse, and scarcity of land adequate for landfills with scientific measures [5]. Our environment is facing a potential threat from unsustainable waste disposal system which is a burning issue in almost all urban cities and peri urban pockets. Some AbstractWaste is a major problem for the countries and cities of developing country like India. This present study is carried out to understand the present scenario of waste management status of three major towns of Assam state namely Jorhat, Tezpur and Dibrugarh. A comparative analysis is carried out on the basis of municipal solid waste generation in these three prominent municipalities of Upper Assam. During the present study it is estimated that Tezpur town produces around 28 MT of waste, Jorhat Town produces 35 MT of waste and Dibrugarh Town produces 75 MT of waste respectively. All the three Municipalities are facing problem for disposal of waste as the open dumping ground is affecting the people and environment around the site. Dibrugarh town waste management is more critical compare to others as because of the open air dumping system since 25 years as well as proximity to river Brahmaputra dike area which is unsuitable and unscientific for dumping process. The intermixing of waste...

Estimation of externalities due to impact of solid waste dumping on crop farming and valuation of crop lands in Tamil Nadu

“…Rather than treating solid waste as waste, it should be considered a source of energy; the proper management of solid waste would generate biodiesel, fuel ethanol and liquid manure (Soni et al 2016). Advanced technical measures are needed immediately to manage the waste and reduce externalities (Choudhury and Dutta 2017) such as loss in cropped area, decline in production, changes in cropping pattern, socioeconomic imbalances, labour migration, unemployment, decrease in share of farm income, changes in the employment pattern, and health problems (Govindarajalu 2003;Devi et al 2010).…”