A wake up call

Solid waste management  is one of the most pressing issue of the 21st century. With increasing population, urbanization and life style changes, the volume of waste generated has increased significantly posing a threat to public health and environment sustainability. A report published by UNEP in Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 Municipal solid waste generation is predicted to grow from 2.1 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. Effective waste management techniques and practices are essential to reduce impacts on various domains of environment and public health. Solid waste refers to the range of garbage materials arising from animal and human activities that are discarded as unwanted and useless. Solid waste is generated from four sources mainly viz Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Institutional. The majority of solid waste constituents  include a range of materials including plastics, garbage, rubbish, metals, glass, textiles and paper. Solid Waste Management can be defined a process in which waste is collected, treated and disposed off in an environment sustainable manner.

Lolab valley located in Kupwara district is experiencing a  serious threat to its beauty due to improper disposal and management of waste. Lack of awareness  about proper segregation of waste at source, waste disposal practices, lack of proper waste dumping infrastructure and lack of regulations are some causes that lead to failure of waste management in the valley. There are about 35 villages that cover the geographical area of Lolab valley. As per my recent research work in the field of waste management, I found that income slab, number of family members, DPI are some variables that have a profound impact on waste generation.

Despite the fact that the valley  bagged the best off beat destination award 2023 of the Outlook Traveller its  own natural charm, tranquility vegetation, landscape and water bodies are at the verge of degradation due to improper waste management practices. There is zero waste management in entire valley. Last year an initiative started by J and K Swachh Bharat Grameen of making waste segregation sheds in every village of Lolab is a big failure. In some villages the segregation sheds have been made adjacent to roadways, Primary Health Centres, habitation areas  etc. This is just an open violation of solid waste management Rules 2016.

The waste collected in dustbins by households is  directly put into the shed without having awareness about its segregation at source and the meaning of having two separate chambers in the shed. When the chambers exceed the capacity, the waste in them is not  collected through hoppers and deposited somewhere safely, resulting in feeding space for dogs. In some sites the waste is burned in open air resulting in release of primary and secondary pollutants in the atmosphere, thereby affecting air quality. Much of the waste is of non biodegradable nature. The biodegradable waste to some extent is managed safely via  this waste  is used to feed livestock in some cases. The way forward is that the government must notify a good chunk of land somewhere and make a landfill site there, segregation plants, recycling units and vermicomposting beds need to be installed to manage waste in safe environmental manner. There is need to conduct educational campaigns to raise awareness about the environmental and health impacts of improper waste disposal. Develop and enforce regulations for proper waste disposal, involving local leaders (sarpanchs) and community influencers in promoting compliance.

We need to encourage composting of kitchen and yard waste at the household level and promote use of composting pits, which can turn organic waste into useable compost for farming. .

Shah Khalid Ahmad has done masters in Environmental Sciences