India’s challenges in waste management, Landfill
Recently, a massive fire broke out at the Bhalswa landfill in North Delhi. It is one of the major dump sites of Delhi along with Ghazipur and Okhla.
Problems of Urban Dump Sites in India –
- According to the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), India had 3,159 dump sites or landfills in the year Of these, 800 million tons were waste.
- These dump sites emit harmful gases like methane, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. This leads to frequent incidents of fire. These events account for 11% of the particulate matter.
Technologies for Urban Dumpsites
Trommel Machines: These are mechanical sieve machines, which separate the waste into the following three components-
- plastics and combustible wastes used as fuels,
- materials resulting from the construction and demolition of buildings, and
- Rich soil and inert material.
- Bioremediation: In this process micro-organisms or plant enzymes are used to eliminate the toxicity of contaminants in the soil and the surrounding environment.
- Bioreactor landfills: In this process liquids are added to help bacteria in the decomposition of waste. This makes the decomposition of waste faster.
- Bio-mining of dumpsites: This usually involves the use of bioremediation. In this process organic waste is decomposed with the help of micro-organisms.
Management of urban dumpsites
- The Union Government has launched Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-) 0 to make all cities garbage free by the year 2026.
- The overall management of such dump sites rests with the urban local authorities. They can make bye-laws under the Solid Waste Management Rules, In addition, at the source of the waste itself, it can be segregated according to the nature of the waste.
Source – The Hindu
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