(a) whether there is shortage of landfill sites across the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
(c) whether people of the country including tourists are suffering from health problems due to improper waste management and shortage of landfill sites; and
(d) if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)
(a) and (b) As reported by the Central Pollution Control Board, there are approximately 3135 dump sites in the country out of which 37 are either reclaimed or capped. Further, there are 8 dump sites which are converted to sanitary landfill sites. The shortage of land for the landfill activity is the biggest concern of every municipality. To streamline the problem of solid waste, including addressing the issue of landfill sites, the Ministry in supersession of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, has notified the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The Rules prescribe the waste generators to segregate the waste at source and hand over the segregated waste to authorized waste pickers or waste collectors. As per the provisions of the Rules, only the non-usable, non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, non-combustible and non-reactive inert waste and pre-processing rejects and residues from waste processing facilities are allowed to go to sanitary landfill sites. The rules further stipulate that every effort shall be made to recycle or reuse the rejects to achieve the desired objective of zero waste going to landfill.
As per the information available with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the total quantity of solid waste produced is 1.47 lakh ton per day. Out of the total waste, 60% of the waste is being processed in the country. The remaining quantity of waste is being dumped in the dumpsites.The state wise details on the generation of Solid Waste and the quantity of waste being processed in each state is enclosed as Annexure – A.
(c) and (d) Improper waste management cause several problems including the impact on health of citizens and tourists. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has overall mandate to take periodic review of the measures taken by the states and local bodies for improving their solid waste management practices. MoHUA is implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) project under which various projects have been taken up. Under this programme during the mission period of 2014-15 to 2019-20, an allocation of Rs. 7424.24 Cr has been made for Solid Waste Management Projects
To tackle the issue of existing landfill sites, the Rules provide criteria for closure and rehabilitation of old dumps. The solid waste dumps which have reached their full capacity have to be closed and rehabilitated by reducing the waste by bio mining and waste processing followed by placement of residues in new landfills or capping.
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