Growing Dump yards
India is a rapidly developing subcontinent, with over 1.3 billion per capita of 1,900.71 USD. Even as the country grows in terms of the economy and human capital, it generates about 147,613 metric tonnes of solid waste per day, of which 77% of waste is disposed of in open dumps, 18% is composted, and just 5% is recycled. Tamil Nadu, the state I currently live in, has many such places, among which the landfill in Kodungaiyur, Chennai, has the largest amount of accumulated waste. This is not an isolated problem; most cities, suburbs and rural areas have pockets of land used as dumping yards. Any free land that shows no signs of occupation is treated as a place for dumping waste. I am very well acquainted with the situation as such are regions present a few kilometres away from my house. There used to be a waste bin managed by the municipality, but it has long been removed without any explanation, and nobody, raised any questions. The key problem exists because most residents are not concerned with waste management, assuming an “out of sight and out-of-mind” attitude. There is little to no waste segregation practised within households. In some places, where segregation and composting is practised, the residents still dispose of the non-degradable waste in the open landfills. Such careless dumping would affect the groundwater, with the water becoming increasingly alkaline. The households rely on bottled water or the municipal water supply. Poor health and higher disease can be attributed to landfills. Animals around the region ingest plastic, causing respiratory or digestive problems.
For change to happen, there needs to be an increase in awareness.
Fortunately, the population demographics indicate many children and teens who all attend schools in the region. As such, there is an influx of an educated populace. However, this is just a starting step to a growing problem. The local government should conduct an awareness drive educating people on how to dispose of waste safely and use compost to their advantage. Another solution could be that the waste pickers around the region could be given appropriate incentives to collect segregated waste from each household and transport them to waste treatment plants. A waste processing plant within each municipality, which functions to optimum capacity for the population, should be established.
Communities near landfills face complex challenges and are not limited to them. It is a multifaceted issue. An approach that starts from the grassroots level is required to address them. Relevant authorities must improve service and provide livelihood opportunities for those affected. Solid waste management must be reimagined to eliminate garbage mountains in the future, and existing sites must be remediated. Shifting to decentralised waste management approaches with household and community level waste segregation and resource recovery solutions have been implemented successfully in some states of India like Kerala.