Politics over garbage in Delhi

Imagine this sight in Delhi — garbage mounds at the Ghazipur landfill site, measuring a good 73 metres, almost the height of the Qutub Minar, and red beacon lights on the tip of the mounds to ward off aircraft flying across. No, this is not a figment of someone's imagination, it is what the Supreme Court remarked in March this year, in connection with a hearing on garbage management.

After pollution, garbage remains a meddlesome issue in Delhi and precisely for the reason that no one knows who is in charge of the city's garbage. The Supreme Court asked the very same question.

"Who is ultimately in charge of garbage management in Delhi? Is it the office of the chief minister or the Lieutenant Governor or the Centre?" the Supreme Court had asked Delhi and the central government in July this year, while hearing a petition on garbage management. In response, the Lieutenant Governor has clarified that it was his region of jurisdiction and it was L-G, who on advice of state government was to take care of the garbage management in Delhi.

"Under whose jurisdiction does waste management fall? Where is an affidavit on waste management policy? Who is responsible for clearing mountains and mountains of garbage in Delhi? Tell us by tomorrow," the court had asked.

During the hearing, the court remarked that Delhi is getting buried under mounds of garbage and Mumbai is sinking under water, but the government is doing nothing. It also fined 10 states and two Union Territories for not filing their affidavits on their policies for solid waste management strategy.

But nothing really changed even after such observations by the apex court. Garbage remains a stinking issue in Delhi. From segregation of garbage at the source, to its transportation and finally the landfills, which Delhi is running out of.

Since the Arvind Kejriwal government came to power, the tussle between local bodies and the Delhi government has been on the upswing. While quite many issues have been caught in the net between the two sides, primary among them seems to be garbage.

Municipal bodies state that they are receiving fewer funds and that is directly affecting garbage collection and disposal. On many occasions, even the Chief Minister himself had to publicly blame the central government for keeping funds short, which stopped the state government from aiding the MCDs. Delhi's Urban Development Minister Satyendra Jain, in an interview, said, "While Delhi contributes a revenue of Rs one lakh thirty thousand crore to central government's coffer, central government gives a mere Rs 325 crore to Delhi. Hence, if the BJP-ruled MCD wants any funds, then it should approach the central government instead."

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders have always blamed the BJP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for the mess. "It is not capable of clearing the garbage and we will not allow heaps of garbage in Delhi...The BJP is trying to punish the people of Delhi," former minister Kapil Mishra had said earlier. The BJP had then hit back at the AAP government accusing it of "playing politics" in not releasing the funds to the corporations.

The dumping ground crisis

It was in 2016 that India revised the Solid Waste Management Rules, banning dumping of mixed waste in low-lying areas and open dumps. However, the national capital still deals with sites which are as high as 60 metre, just because there are no alternate dumping sites. These sites have also become unstable because of garbage disposal. In October last year, one side of a Ghazipur waste disposal site, managed by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), collapsed, killing two people.

However, the stability of the slope is not the only concern in terms of waste disposal sites. Combustibles such as rags, plastics, paper and wood often catch fire. These surface fires emit particulate matter, including black carbon or soot, which is a short-term climate pollutant with global warming potential. While dousing such fires is relatively easy, subsurface fires are not.

According to a study by the The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the landfill fires contribute to 0.4 per cent of air pollution in terms of PM2.5 in the winter season in Delhi.

Sorting of waste

According to experts, the prime cause for these problems is the ignorance of residents towards a very simple 'on source segregation method', which would help authorities use this waste as a resource. "The RWAs and Municipal Corporations must make sure that an awareness program organised to make sure every household decides to segregate waste from their houses itself. Moreover the dhalaos (community bins) must be developed as a centre to segregate the waste at a finer tone, making it a resource and not a liability," said Swati Singh, Program Manager, Centre for Science and Environment.

However, residents do not bother to even segregate waste in the home, creating a long chain of problems, affecting hygiene, health and environment at a hazardous level. Expressing the concern for the atmosphere, environmentalist, Chhavi Methi spoke to DNA and asked for stricter rulers against those who have been ignorant to the segregation issue. "People, out of ignorance or defiance, have been mixing their garbage, which is the prime source of the problem. The mixed waste is very difficult to segregate at later stages and eventually end up on the dumping grounds like in Ghazipur," said Methi.

Currently, the MCD shares the lion's share of sanitation in the national capital, responsible for keeping 96 per cent of the city clean. The civic bodies deploy dumpers, tractors, auto tippers, JCB machines, manual rickshaws and wheel barrows to collect garbage from different localities and deposit them at various dumping grounds in the city.

Officials talk, unofficially

Most of the officials working with MCD believe that the real cause of the crisis in Delhi has been the trifurcation of MCD in 2012. The officials, who requested to be unnamed, claim that ever since the trifurcation, South MCD has become the richest while the other two, North MCD and East MCD, since sources of income are limited, have to look for financial help from the Delhi government.

"Keeping it simple, earlier there was the expense of a single MCD, which means a single mayor, single commissioner and a single chain of command. But now you have three different chains, which has increased the expenses, with the services being same," a senior official in MCD said.