Geography · Ch 17 — Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems
Urban Waste Disposal
Urban Waste Disposal
Urban waste disposal is not just about throwing things away — it is about understanding what we discard, where it goes, and what it does to our environment and health. The core problem is that urban areas, with their overcrowding and fast-growing populations, lack adequate facilities to manage the enormous quantity of waste generated daily. This leads to poor sanitary conditions, foul air, and serious health hazards.
What is Solid Waste?
Solid waste refers to a variety of old and used articles that are dumped at different places. These include stained small pieces of metals, broken glassware, plastic containers, polythene bags, ash, floppies, CDs, and similar discarded materials. These are also called refuse, garbage, or rubbish.
Solid waste comes from two main sources:
- Household or domestic establishments — everyday waste from homes.
- Industrial or commercial establishments — waste from factories, shops, and offices.
How is Waste Disposed?
The method of disposal differs by source:
- Household wastes are disposed of either on public lands or on sites managed by private contractors.
- Industrial solid wastes (like ashes and debris from thermal power houses and building construction or demolition) are collected and disposed of through public (municipal) facilities at low-lying public grounds, which are used as landfill areas.
The Scale of the Problem in India
In metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru, about 90 per cent of solid waste is collected and disposed of. However, in most other cities and towns across the country, 30 to 50 per cent of the waste generated is left uncollected. This uncollected waste accumulates on streets, in open spaces between houses, and in wastelands, leading to serious health hazards.
Health and Environmental Hazards of Solid Waste
Solid wastes cause health problems through:
- Creation of obnoxious (foul) smell.
- Harbouring of flies and rodents, which act as carriers of diseases like typhoid, diphtheria, diarrhoea, malaria, and cholera.
These wastes cause frequent nuisance when they are carelessly handled, spread by wind, or splattered through rainwater.
The concentration of industrial units in and around urban centres leads to the disposal of industrial wastes. Dumping industrial waste into rivers causes water pollution. River pollution from city-based industries and untreated sewage leads to serious health problems for people living downstream.
Untreated wastes ferment slowly and release toxic biogas into the atmosphere, including methane — a potent greenhouse gas. This is a hidden but serious environmental cost of poor waste management.
A Better Way: Waste as a Resource
The textbook asks us to rethink our relationship with waste: What do we throw away? Why? Where does it end up? Why do ragpickers sort through rubbish dumps? Does it have some value?
The answer is yes — urban waste should be treated as a resource and utilised for generating energy and compost. This shift in perspective is essential for sustainable urban living.
Case Study: Daurala — A Role Model for Ecological Restoration
The village of Daurala, near Meerut, provides a powerful example of how communities can restore ecology and safeguard human health. Based on the universal law "Polluter pays", an NGO, along with the village community, government officials, and industrialists, worked together to solve a severe pollution problem.
The Problem (2003): The groundwater of Daurala was contaminated with heavy metals because untreated wastewater from Daurala industries was leaching into the groundwater table. This caused serious health problems for the twelve thousand residents.
The Solution (over three years):
- The NGO conducted a door-to-door survey of the health status of residents and produced a report.
- All stakeholders — the NGO, village community, people's representatives, and industrialists — sat together to find sustainable solutions. …
The photograph shows a narrow lane in Mahim, Mumbai, tightly lined on both sides by makeshift shanties and permanent buildings. The ground is completely covered with scattered garbage, debris, and loose waste — plastic bags, broken objects, and organic refuse lie in heaps. A single person is visible, either walking or working among the piles. There are no bins, no collection vehicles, and no organised disposal system in the frame. The lane itself is the dumping ground.
This image is placed in the section on urban waste disposal to make one point visually: in many Indian cities, waste does not get collected or treated — it simply accumulates where people live. The textbook tells you that in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, about 90% of solid waste is collected, but the photograph shows the 10% that is not. More importantly, it shows where that uncollected waste ends up: not in a landfill, but in the narrow, crowded lanes of low-income settlements. The shanties on either side mean that residents live right next to — and walk through — this garbage every day.
What the figure teaches is the human geography of waste. The problem is not just the quantity of garbage, but its unequal distribution. The lane in Mahim is not a random street; it is a dense, poorly serviced neighbourhood where municipal collection fails. The single person in the frame hints at the informal economy of waste — ragpickers who sort through dumps for recyclable materials, a detail the textbook later asks about: "Why do ragpickers sort out rubbish dumps? Does it have some value?" The photograph thus connects the visible filth to the hidden labour and health hazards that follow. …
Based on the universal law "Polluter pays", effort to restore the ecology and safeguard the human health with people's participation has taken place in Daurala near Meerut. These efforts are now bearing fruits after a span of three years when Meerut based NGO had developed a model for ecological restoration. The meeting of the Daurala Industries officials, NGOs, Government officials and other stakeholders at Meerut has brought out results. The powerful logics, authentic studies and the pressure of people have brought a new lease of life to the twelve thousand residents of this village. It was in the year 2003 that the pitiable condition of Dauralaites drew the attention of the civil society. The groundwater of this village was contaminated with heavy metals. The reason was that the untreated wastewater of Daurala industries was leaching to the groundwater table. The NGO conducted a door to door survey of the health status of the residents and came out with a report. The organisation, the village community and people's representatives sat together to find out sustainable solutions to the health problem. The industrialists showed a keen interest towards checking the deteriorating ecology. The overhead water tank's capacity in the village was enhanced and a 900m extra pipeline was laid to supply potable water to the community. The silted pond of the village was cleaned and recharged by desilting it. Large quantity of silt was removed paving way to large quantity of water …