Solid Waste Management Options For Urban Areas

Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

1. INTRODUCTION The growing level of urbanisation in the developing countries which tends to follow a trend of concentration in large urban areas has led to an expression of concern by policy makers and the citizens at large, on the poor environmental conditions resulted by the absence of adequate availability of infrastructure facilities in the urban areas. From the traditional areas of water supply, transport and sanitation facilities, of late, such concern has spilled over to that of solid waste management too. Such a growing concern for increased and improved level of solid water management operations in urban areas has been primarily due to the increasing awareness of the public about the linkage between the epidemic health hazards often occuring in the large urban areas and the deterorating effects of unmanaged solid wastes on the quality of drinking water, drainage system etc. Such concern of the governments of the developing countries is also reflective of their understanding of the role and importance of urban areas in their national development. A considerable proportion of the GDP of the developing countries is in general, estimated to be accounted by their urban areas. The ability of the urban areas which are the backbone of their national settlement system to support productive public and private sector economic activities is severely constrained by the poor service delivery at the first instance and the deteriorating quality and performance of such infrastructure at later stages. Inspite of the clear awareness and concern of the governments of developing countries on the overall need for improving the infrastructure in urban areas, the emphasis on various components has been varied. While the actions and efforts taken by the governments for improving the water supply conditions in urban areas has been just and fairly adequate, the same on solid waste management operations has been dismal. Studies indicate that in many urban areas in developing countries, only about 60 per cent of the refuse is collected, the population coverage has been less than 50 per cent, services operated by public authorities are inefficient and that uncontrolled and indiscriminate dumping is widely prevalent.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

2. PRESENT PATTERN OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS The existing system of solid waste management practices in the large urban areas of the developing countries is characterised by partial coverage, which is manually operated and labour intensive and offers a fairly high level of employment opportunities for the informal sector population. The whole operation involves collection of waste manually from the roadside as well as that deposited by the residents in the communal bins using hand carts etc and deposit the same in the collection point or transfer station. The bins are normally made of masonry and in some cases the trailers and skip containers are used as community bins. Refuse collection vehicles such as tractors or trucks collect the waste from these collection points and transport to a disposal site. a) Partial coverage At present in most cases, solid waste disposal involves merely open dumping with out taking measures to control environmental pollution. Most often, the abandoned temporarily dry ponds are used as landfill sites. In sparsely populated towns and peripheral areas of bigger towns, solid wastes are not normally considered a serious problem. Household refuse is often disposed off by throwing out of the window and allowed to decompose and degenerate there itself, a practice which is feasible because of the high vegetable content of such waste. However, in the congested localities of urban areas, approach to inner areas by the municipal vehicles is difficult and the deposit points of wastes being at the entry points which are distant from the inner areas results in the unsightly disposal of refuse in streets and pathways. The situation is particularly severe in low income areas as the naturally formed channels which act as drains often get filled with sullage, latrine discharges and solid waste and as solid waste collection normally is not done from the unauthorised settlement areas, decomposing refuse tends to accumulate contributing to poor environmental conditions.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

b) Labour intensive and partly mechanised The solid waste management activity is essentially a labour intensive operation. It involves a number of cadre of workforce ranging from the health inspector to street sweepers. For instance, the total staff for solid waste management activity in Indian towns works out on an average to 2 to 3 workers per 1000 residents. Further, in most towns, the transfer of waste from dustbins to disposal sites is done using a multiplicity of vehicles such as the conventional trucks of non-tipping and tipping type, tractors with detachable trailors, the roll-on-roll-off type vehicles with long flat chassis and hydraulic lifting system which directly lift the relatively large sized containers to the disposal sites, dumper placers and compactor vehicles. Such vehicles are normally either purchased of obtained from international agencies on grant basis. c) Recycling and reuse through informal sector An important component of solid waste management in urban areas of developing countries is recycling and reuse. The recycling and reuse of the waste constituents begins from the individual household itself where readily saleable items like old newspapers, glass and plastic bottles, empty tins and containers are sold to street hawkers. By far, the largest amount of resource recovery and recycling takes place through the informal private sector. Individual waste pickers collect materials that could be recycled from the roadside and intermediate storage bins. They operate usually in specific areas and self the collected material to middle men who in turn sell it to the recycling industry. This is common phenomenon virtually in all cities of developing countries. In addition to salvaging of materials on city streets considerable recycling activity is centred at landfills and dumpsites.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

3. INPORTANCE OF PROPER SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES The adverse effect of improper and inadequate solid waste management operations are still only partially appreciated as it is still difficult to link the resultant health effects directly to the inadequacy in waste management. The primary effects arise mainly from the improper dumping of the solid wastes both by individuals and by the authorities. On a smaller scale, the scattered waste at the residential neighbouhoods act as the breeding ground for the mosquitoes, rats etc. that lead to a number of communicable diseases.

In addition to causing unpleasant

environment, the scattered wastes along the roads and drains clog the drains and naturally formed nallahs resulting in stagnation of water leading to overflow of drains. The individual households also quite often burn the waste in the street corners and backyards leading to release of toxic chemical compounds in the neighbourhood. At the public authority level, illegal and improper dumping of solid wastes by the official carriers at the periphery of the town with least concern to the location of water sources either surface or under ground may lead to leacheate action resulting in the contamination of water source. Further, adhoc dumping in the dry ponds and shallow depressions during drought/dry periods is normally resorted to by the public authorities. This may have an adverse impact on the ground water source during rainy periods. These polluted water bodies are often sources for other cities and towns, or even a future source of supply for the polluter themselves resulting in poor quality and higher treatment cost at a later date. Polluted water being the prime reason for the incidence and spread of a number of infections/contagious diseases, the role of proper and adequate solid waste management practices for the well-being of the public in general may not need greater emphasis.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

4. MAJOR REASONS FOR POOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS a) Lack of proper logistic planning of operations Solid waste management operations even though appear to be simplistic in nature, require a well thought out logistic planning for effective performance. The number and siting of bins, frequency of collections by waste collectors, location of transfer stations, frequency of trips by the vehicles etc. all farm important components of the solid waste management operations. Through the work norms and duties have been specified for the lowest category, the same has not been strictly defined for the supervisory staff. b) Resource Constrains Fund availability for maintenance activities has always been limited as often the grants available are mainly for creation of assets and maintenance is left to the local body after the initial few years. Difficulties in the revision of tax rates of various sources in the municipalities have resulted in the revenue receipts being mainly spent on staff salaries. With inadequate power to revise service tariffs of various infrastructure facilities and also the collection performance not worth mentioning, the cumulative effect has been a drastic cut on created assets. Solid waste management operations forms one of those services or infrastructure which benefit the general public or even specific groups, but it is difficult or even impossible to levy a user charge. As such in general a specific proportion of property tax or any other tax is earmarked for this purpose. c) Poor Maintenance Typically, the major components of a solid waste management system that requires operation and maintenance are the dump sites, stationery communal storage bins, transfer stations, collection vehicles, handcrafts, containers, standardised dust bins, equipment at dump sites and composting sites.

As such the major maintenance

operations that are required include structural maintenance of communal storage bins, transfer stations etc., maintenance of drains and other installations and disposal sites and maintenance of mechanical plant and the vehicles.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

By far, the biggest maintenance problem is faced in case of the vehicles. While minor repairs and mechanical works of the refuse collector vehicles/tractors are done in the municipal workshops, for other major works the vehicles are normally sent outside workshops selected on quotation basis. This involves considerable delay in their repair and leads to strain on the remaining vehicles. In general, projects implemented with external assistance particularly contribution in terms of machinery and materials have been found to suffer because of maintenance problems for want of adequate spare parts and the financial capacity of the user beyond their capacity to import such spares from abroad. Use of alternate brands of mechanical and electrical components as replacements quite often does not solve the problem on a long term basis. Normally the disposal sites do not have proper approach road, check post, staff and equipment. This results in the vehicles depositing the waste wherever convenient and allowing unauthorised persons visiting disposal sites for selective rag-picking. d) Lack of Coordination Departments Infrastructure facilities particularly solid waste and drainage require effective coordination among the various development agencies of other/related activities. Effective coordination particularly between departments providing various utilities and solid waste management employees could ensure efficient and uninterrupted service. For instance, lack of street sweeping or garbage collection can increase costs for road, sewer and drain maintenance as accumulated material interferes with proper use or maintenance of these facilities. Similarly, improper maintenance of the roads may hinder the movement and ability of the garbage collection vehicles in performing their operations. e) Lack of Effective control on Solid Waste Operation Normally supervision of the solid waste removal operations is minimal and left fully to the discretion of the field staff to organise themselves. With little accountability and absence of proper maintenance of daily activity reporting, sweepers start designing their own schedules of visit and frequency to different areas resulting in unattended areas.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

5. PRE-REQUISITES FOR AN EFFECTIVE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN URBAN AREAS Any waste disposal management system essentially contains the components of waste material generation, collection, their disposal and their treatment with minimal environmental effect and within a reasonable cost. A scientifically conceived, context based, long term oriented solid waste management plan is an essential pre-requisite to achieve success. Some of the basic elements of these components that need to be addressed are as follows: a) Generation of solid wastes : This would require as a first step, a systematic survey to assess the quantum of population both in terms of individuals and also the number of houses. Such an analysis of the population and houses would enable a fair assessment of the quantum of solid waste generated as on date. This would enable an estimation of the likely population and quantum of solid waste generation at a future date based on which an appropriate system could be arrived at. The number and placement of communal bins is one of the very basic essential step that needs to be carefully planned which should be based on factors such as quantum of generation, distance from the transfer station, ease of mobility of collection vehicles etc. b) Collection and transportation The frequency of collection of wastes should be evolved so as to avoid undue accumulation of wastes and also to ensure that larvae is not developed within the heap of waste material. There are a number of methods by which solid waste management operations could be systematised effectuating cost reduction. For instance, the transfer stations should be considered necessary only when the haul distances from the collection area to the disposal site are greater than a tolerable limit. Further, the collection should be ensured through trained municipal authorised person so that scattering of waste does not occur by animals and unauthorised material pickers. Such selective material pickers be allowed at the final disposal site. As far as

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

possible, the vehicles that carry and transport the wastes should be tipping in nature so that loading and unloading is easier to handle. c) Disposal of wastes Quite often any public vacant space irrespective of its location and its surroundings, forms the dumping yard in the urban areas. While in the beginning such sites are used by neighbouring population as a convenient dumping point, over time, either due to the distant location of the identified site or due to lack of any other space, the public authorities themselves opt for dumping the waste in such locations regularising those areas as dumping sites. This short term measure continues as a permanent solution. Identification of disposal sites is of crucial importance and should done with due consideration to the location of residential areas, surface and sub-surface water sources, distance from the town, adequacy for a longer period etc.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

6. APPROPRIATE OPTIONS AND APPROACHES FOR URBAN AREAS The solid wastes generated in all sizes of towns in developing countries in general, present similarities in nature and content. However, seldom is a similar method of waste disposal applicable in all the places. Identification and adoption of a particular system for any town/locally requires an analysis and assessment of the nature and contents of the waste, the behavioural patterns of the local populace as conditioned by their income status, availability of opportunities and exposure to adopt better waste management practices and the enforcement practices ensured by the local authorities/administration fully backed by adequate legislative measures. Therefore, an appropriate system needs to be evolved with reference to the individual context taking into account a number of such determining factors. a) Options for large Urban Areas The situation in metro and large cities is highly deplorable. Any suggestion for an appropriate system of management needs to look into the present status of operations. Some of the basic characteristics of solid waste and its management operations in large urban areas of developing countries are : i) Percapita generation : Even though the percapita generation of solid waste in Indian urban centres is very small (national average is between 150 to 350 gms/head/day) compared to that of developed countries, the total quantum generated in metropolitan and large cities is mind boggling. For example, Mumbai produces a total of 4400 tons of waste every day (about 450 gms per capital/day). Bangalore and Madras generate about 2200 mt every day. Thus the average generation in the metropolitan and large cities range from 450 to 500 gms/capita/day. ii) Quality of solid waste : Estimates about the proportion of decomposable organic matter in the solid waste range from 40 to 80 per cent. It is about 65 per cent in Madras and goes upto 77 per cent in Bangalore.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

iii) Land availability for dumping : There is an increasing concern over the availability of land required for disposal. For example Delhi has five landfill sites namely Ghazipur, Bhalaswa, Tughlakabad, Hasthal and Mandwli and except. Ghazipur all others have been filled. In Bombay too, the landfill sites of Deonar, Malad, Mulund, Marve and Gorai are expected to last not more than another 30 years. In Bangalore, there are no defined landfill sites and the waste is disposed along the highways radiating from the city, outside the city at peripheral locations. In Madras, there are two major dumping grounds, at Perungudi and Kodungaiyur which receive about 2000 mt of garbage every day. But they are not sanitary landfills, are not fenced and do not have proper approach road to ensure systematic dumping. iv) Substantial unmanaged quantum : Nowithstanding the substantial removal of the non combustible and reusable material in advance, the quantum the public authorities in most cities are able to transport and dispose in any manner range from 60 to 80 per cent only. The daily generation of solid waste is increasingly backlogged in terms of their ability to transport and dispose of. The above discussion indicates that the metropolitan and large cities in general have a substantial quantum of generation, with a high organic content and are chronically deficient in terms of proper disposal sites. In view of the above, any alternative should be less space extensive, should be able to solve disposal of a substantial portion of the waste generated and be financially self supportive in the long run. In this context, one of the emerging technologies that holds promise for large urban areas of developing countries, particularly India is the process of pelletisation of the solid wastes and their use for energy generation purpose. The refuse derived fuel generation plants typically have a magnetic separator to seive the metal particles and a density separator to eliminate glass, ceramic, plastic, sand and stone pieces and residuals. The operation separates the combustibles from the non combustible materials. The combustible garbage is put through a rotary drier to get rid of the moisture before it is made into pre-densified lumps for use as fuel. Such a process of production of predensified lumps which is less energy consuming could be adopted wherever the outputs

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

are to be used at the manufacturing site itself. However, where outputs are to be used away from the manufacturing site, the process of production of varying sized pellets could be adopted so that transport is made easier. For production of 1 M.T. of fuel pellets, the garbage requirements is estimated to be about 4 to 5 M.T. There are concerns about the applicability of such a technology in the developing countries compared to the developed ones wherein because of the higher volume of paper usage and content in the garbage, the calorific value of the waste is around 4000 Kcl. Achieving such a high level of calorific value may not be possible in developing countries wherein the reusable and materials amenable for recycling are removed in advance by the rag-pickers. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the cost involved which needs to be analysed in detail, studies indicate, that it is possible to add additives of biomass to the solid wastes at appropriate stage in the process so that their calorific value is enhanced to the required level. The moisture content of the garbage is another crucial factor, that determines the suitability of the garbage for direct pelletisation purpose as a greater level of drying of the garbage needs to be attempted when the moisture content is high. Ideally, the moisture content of the garbage needs to be around 8 to 10 per cent. There is great variation in the moisture content of the garbage in Indian conditions depending on their location, availability of water etc. For example, in respect of Mumbai it is estimated to be about 50 per cent. In case of Madras it is expected to be much lower (about 30 per cent). Appropriate segregation of non-combustibles and drying of the garbage would enhance the calorific value substantially requiring only marginal adequate usage of additives. The refuse derived pellets could be used as an alternative to coal or along with coal in heat generation processes for electricity generation etc.

One of the major

advantages of adoption of this technology would be that the net waste left out for dumping would be only of the order of one third of the total used which would result in substantial reduction in the land area required for disposal. Further, the waste discarded by the separators could be used for public purposes such as filling of shallow areas and as filling materials in the laying of road formations etc.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

b) Private sector participation Traditionally ownership, operation and financing of infrastructure in the urban areas of developing countries has been the monopolistic domain of public authorities mainly due to the global coverage of infrastructure services and the perceived potential risks in allowing a private monopoly in public services. However, it is being increasingly recognised that solid waste collection and disposal activities may be one of the best suited for involving private sector through contracting as the operations are routine in nature and are of a large magnitude, with well defined timing, duration and service and measurable output. Major advantages may include dispensing with administrative and staff over heads, establishment costs, transport and maintenance of infrastructure costs. Findings in a number of studies in respect of cities of the developed countries support the hypothesis that the private sector can operate more efficiently than the public sector in providing municipal solid waste services. Summarised research from United States, Canada and United Kingdom with more than 2000 cities surveyed in total shows services provided by public monopolies typically cost 25 to 41 per cent more than the contracted services. Public Authorities in a number of large cities in the developing world too have adopted to contracting of solid waste management operations to private sector. (Examples are Buenos Aires, Caracas, Santiago, Sao Paulo etc.) Such an approach range from full privatisation of operations (examples include Bogota, Cordoba, Montevideo) to partial private sector involvement (Santa Cruz. Bangalore). Such contracts could be flexible to suit local conditions. In Abidjan the contractor is paid based on the volume of waste material collected, but precise clauses allow for price variations to account for the price of fuel, labour and other variable cost. In Bangalore Development Authority Areas, the contractor is supposed to provide labour, transport and the disposal services and assessments indicates that there is a 50 per cent reduction in financial outlay because of privatisation.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

c) Public Participation and involvement of NGOs There are many cases wherein the voluntary and non-governmental agencies have successfully participated in the solid waste management operations. (Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Medallin, Columbia, Cairo, Egypt). Often, the scavengers who were involved in rag picking have been organised into a cooperative either encouraged by voluntary organaisations or through the encouragement of public authorities themselves. Their role in implementing projects to motivate and encourage public in general in solid waste management operations and improvement of working and living conditions of the informal sector population engaged in waste picking etc. by suitably integrating them into the operations needs to be recognised. New initiatives involving voluntary agencies in the solid waste collection have been quite successful in Indian cities even though such initiatives have been highly localised in elite pockets.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

7. CONCLUSIONS The rapid population explosion taking place in large urban areas of developing countries necessitates urgent and appropriate measures for effective management of solid waste. Emphasis should be to integrate solid waste management and its requirements as part of the general city development operations and plans/programmes. The concept of source separation needs to be introduced initially in literate pockets so as to be extended in wider context later. This practice would enable achieving a higher caloriffic value to the organic and combustible garbage making it amenable for greater level of reuse, recycling and additional energy generation. Substantial research and development effort needs to be initiated to look into the possibilities of operationalising the pre-densification and pelletisation process for wider applicability in the larger urban areas of developing countries. To achieve quick and prompt repair of the transport vehicles, the possibility of adopting the method of awarding annual maintenance contracts to selected companies needs a positive closer scrutiny rather than following the system of awarding works to workshops on quotation basis. With severe resources crunch faced by the local agencies and public authorities, it is imperative to involve the private sector either fully or in part operations. Role of NGOs and voluntary organisations in educating and motivating the general public and also organising the informal sector workers for a systematic effort to achieve a cleaner city, needs to be recognised and accommodated.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

7. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT •

Unit cost of collection/disposal is not worked out.

•

Cost saving measures are not analysed for proper asset management

•

Revenue potential of solid waste is not assessed.

•

Potential for PSP (private sector participation) is not examined.

•

Assets are not listed through inventory.

•

Element of subsidy is not calculated.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

8. CASE STUDY - 1 Management : Community Participation, Project Management, Private Sector participation. Summary Lucknow, as in the case of most cities in India, has been struggling with the problem of solid waste management.

Muskan Jyoti Samiti is a Non-Governmental

Organisation (NGO) which has been successfully providing comprehensive solid waste management services to a part of the city since 1094. Its operations include street cleaning, garbage collection, sorting, transportation, disposal and vermi-composting. It recovers the operation and maintenance cost from the households served. Details of Case Study Location Lucknow is located Uttar Pradesh. It is the capital of the state. Situation Before The Municipal Corporation of Lucknow was unable to provide adequate and efficient solid waste management services its population (about 1.7 million in 1991). This led to the emergence of a few non-governmental solid waste management initiatives. Lead Agency Muskan Jyoti Samiti, an NGO in Lucknow. Strategy The inefficiency of the Municipal Corporation to keep the city clean led to the formation of Muskan Jyoti Samiti (MJS) which decided to take up the task of efficient garbage collection and disposal in Lucknow city. MJS also decided to get the community to participate in this effort. MJS first started its solid waste management operations in an upper middle class locality in Lucknow, but did not achieve much success. It then moved to a lower-middle class locality and succeeded in the effort. After successful operations in middle-class localities, MJS expanded its activities to cover selected slums.

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

CASE STUDY - 2 SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN PUNE Name of City/Town: Name of Municipal Body: Address: Telephone : Email : Demography 1. Name of Officer In-Charge

PUNE PUNE Municipal Corporation Shivaji Nagar, Pune - 411 005 550 1000

2. Area of Municipal Corporation/Council (Please provide map showing legal limits of municipal body) (km2) 3. No. of wards/zones 4. Total population (as per 1991 census) 5. Total population (as per 2001 census) 6. Population Urban Slums 1. Floating population 2. Total no. of household generation of municipal solid waste 1. Total MSW generation (MT/day) 2. MSW generation (gms/capital/day) 3. Of the total MSW generated Quantity of domestic MSW (MT/day) Quantity of commercial MSW (MT/day) Quantity of industrial (non-toxic and non-hazardous) waste (MT/day) Quantity of waste from markets (MT/day) Quantity of waste from hotels and restaurants (MT/day) 1 Composition of MSW (Attach separate sheet) Physical characteristics

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District: PUNE Division: Pune State : Maharashtra Fax : Website:

550 1104

Dr.Arul M. Ravetkar, Medical Officer of Health 264 sq. kms. 4 Zones/14 Ward Offices 15,66,651 25,40,000 13,00,000 12,40,000 2,05,000 approx. 5,25,000 1000 MT 390 gm 400 250 0 50 250

Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

0

Biodegradable (%)

0 Paper (%) 0.8 0 Plastic (%) 0.7 0 Glass (%) 0.6 0 Metal (%) 0.4 0 Inert, ash, debris (%) collection, storage and transportation 1. Area covered for collection of MSW 264 sq. km 2. No. of households covered 5,25,000 3. No. of households covered under door-to-door Under study collection (bell ringing) 4. Is the collection carried out by municipal P.M.C. Pune authority or private contractor or NGO? 5. Is the segregation is carried out at source ? Yes, Partially 6. MSW collected in mixed form (MT/day) Mixed 7. Is waste collected every day Yes i.e. 7 days a week and 365 days a year ? 8. Total number, type, size and capacity of storage RCC bins : 487,10'x4'x5' bins/container/trailers provided 9. Whether all bins are attended/cleaned daily? Yes (i.e. 7 days a week and 365 days a year) 10. Whether the lifting of waste from the bins is manual or 0-75% mechanical, 25% mechanical ? Manual 11. Vehicle details Type Total No. Capacity(MT) Daily At present Additional required available proposed Compactor 12 cu.m 8 12 (mobile) Dumper 3.8 cu.m 80 NIL placer (with 4.5m3/7m3 containers) Open truck 6 cu.m 7 NIL Open truck 6 cu.m 45 NIL with tipping Bulk Refuse 7 cu.m 40 8 Collector

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

WATER SUPPLY IN THE URBAN Wells and hand pumps are the main source of drinking water in the fringe also. However 20 villages constituting of primary inner fringe are being served by tube wells. Most of the villages situated at the outer limit of the western fringe have only wells as a source of drinking water. In certain areas tank, river and canal water is used for drinking purposes. All the big factories and mills situated beyond the municipal limits in Clutterbuckganj and Izatnagar area have their own piped water supply systems with tubewells and overhead tanks. So is the case of residential colonies and labour colonies developed in these parts ( S E Survey, Bareilly, 1971). Thus in general, people in the fringe area still depend on primitive means of water supply. DRAINAGE AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL Bareilly city has no planned drainage or sewage system. A skeleton system of drains exist which leaves the sullage to stagnate abruptly forming pools in low lying area, without any outlet. During rainy season the sullage mixed with rain water flows along some of the main roads of Beharipur and Gulabnagar. Due to insufficient capacity of storm water-cum-sullage drains an extremely insanitary sight is presented. Beharipur and Gulabnagar roads are along the natural water-shed forming a valley of nearly 1.5 km. in length. Here often such sights may be seen during rains. RUBBISH AND NIGHT SOIL REMOVAL Though the disposal of rubbish and night soil is in the process of being mechanized, most of the work is done by hand. The night soil is collected in the 'dalaos' which in the majority of cases are kacha without screen walls. Further, it is removed both by departmental agency and by contractors. As city lacks sewer lines, the service types of latrines are common in whole of the town and a considerable part of new town. The night soil is removed by sweepers in baskets and Hand carts, who carry it to the dumping grounds. But recently with the development of partial sewage system and construction of sullage pits, this inhuman and

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Solid Waste Management Options for Urban Areas

unhygienic work is being abandoned. Lately the municipal board is using mechanical transport for removing night soil. The south-western fringe of the city present a different character. This area of the fringe, particularly toward the Rounganga river, faces the problem of inundation, therefore the built up area could not extend as much in this sector as in north west sector. The intensity of landuse has increased along roadside only. In the eastern fringe, which is very limited in area high mixed landuse intensity is visible only among one or two villages, especially along roadside. Further, in north-east the existance of I.A.P. camp on a wider area with its restricted land has also influenced the land use pattern of the villages. Negligible changes have taken place in the eastern parts of the fringe extending upto the river Nakatia. Due to the lack of transport facilities, this area is least accessible. To conclude, the landuse pattern in the fringe focucces the changes in relation to industrial and residential developments. Whereas north, north-western sector shows multiple landuses, the south-west fringe has developed an extensive landuse on roadside. In the east while the southern part of the fringe has developed intensive agriculture, the northern part has more vacant land due to its location further from the city centre.

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