Swachh Bharat Mission We may be ODF, but not garbage free

1. Swachh Bharat Mission: Although We Are ODF, We Are Not Garbage-Free The impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is still an open subject. One of the primary objectives of SBM Phase 1 was to eliminate open defecation by October 2, 2019, as well as to achieve 100% scientific disposal of municipal solid waste in all Indian urban local bodies. The government of India had specific plans for urban and rural areas to make them open defecation-free (ODF), like Swachh Bharat Urban for urban areas, while Swachh Bharat Gramin for rural areas. Since its inception in 2014, stakeholders have worked with the general public to raise awareness of the issue and encourage local governments to take action. They have done this by introducing programmes like Swachh Survekshan, giving garbage-free cities a star rating, and providing management guidelines for an effective overhaul of our waste management system. Despite its poor implementation, SBM’s goal of reducing and effectively turning India’s waste into a resource has seen modest progress. The 84,229 wards in the country are divided into 60% source segregated areas and 86% door-to-door collecting areas, according to the most recent SBM data. There seems to have been a significant improvement from 2014 when segregation was found in only 41% of wards. Despite the increase in people, there are still several issues with segregation and garbage disposal that need to be resolved. Households typically separate recyclables of high value (such as newspapers, plastic bottles, glass, and metals) and sell them to kabaariwalas (waste buyers) on a direct payment basis, while recyclables of lower value (such as torn paper, plastic pieces, glass fragments, and metal fragments) are mixed with MSW (including wet waste). Although this method of disposal does not guarantee successful disposal, it can be improved by emulating towns with successful management reforms, such as Muzaffarpur and Indore, where waste is a source separated into dry and wet waste in bins of different colours. We can further process the segregated garbage in central sorting facilities, where the dry waste can be further sorted and sold for downcycling, while the wet waste can be composted or used to generate biogas. The downstream handling of collected waste is a dampening element notwithstanding successful door-to-door collection. According to current data, of the entire 53.1 million metric tonnes of garbage produced, 51.26 percent is processed, which is a noteworthy rise from the meagre 18 percent seen in 2014. However, it is challenging to meticulously evaluate the on-ground success rate of garbage disposal systems in the absence of thorough disposal data. India has the ability to treat 258.82 lakh tonnes of garbage annually (LTA), and there is already over 71.6 LTA capacity under construction, according to the most recent SBM statistics. We can achieve a portion of the SBM’s aim to turn waste into a resource by

2. utilising the existing waste treatment facilities. Contrary to these allegations, a few of the current facilities aren’t up and running. The excessive infatuation with waste-to-energy (WTE) plants is another alarming trend. India now has seven operational WTE plants that can produce 88.4 MW of electricity, while another 415 MW of capacity is being built. The suggested plans will process more trash than India can produce because of the inadequate amount of high calorific value waste in the nation. As an alternative, we can instead have a look at Solid Liquid Resource Management (SLRM), a less expensive method for disposing of municipal solid waste. This substitute is both socially and economically relevant and environmentally viable. By using this strategy in Ambikapur, the SLRM provided 300 green employment opportunities, including women’s self-help groups, and increased the financial burden by saving 52.51% on solid waste management costs.