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Ghazipur, Bhalswa and Okhla – the three dumpsites in Delhi have collectively caused nearly Rs. 450 crore in damage to the environment. Can the national capital get rid of dumpsites and manage its waste effectively? New Delhi: Savera was eight when her family migrated to Delhi from Kolkata in search of a better life. Unable to find a good job, her father moved to Ghazipur, close to a “garbage mountain” where they all learned how to collect waste and make a living. “When we climb to the top of the dumpsite, we carry our death in our hands”, says Savera, who is now a 32-year-old fatigued woman with three children. Savera is among hundreds of informal waste collectors who live off the garbage mountain. They secretly enter the Ghazipur dumpsite, spread across 72 acres of land, climb the hills of trash and spend their day segregating waste and collecting valuables, which is essentially waste that can be sold to recyclers to earn some money. As per the information shared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the city generates 11,332 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste per day. This includes 11,000 TPD (Tonnes Per Day) from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (East, South and North Delhi Municipal Corporation), 260 TPD generated by the New Delhi Municipal Council and 72 TPD by the Delhi Cantonment Board. “Hundred per cent of the waste generated is collected. Door-to-door collection means the auto tipper which has two main compartments – green for wet waste and blue for dry waste – and a small black box at the back, goes to every house or residential society,” Dinesh Yadav, Chief Engineer at the Department of Environmental Management, at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) tells NDTV. MCD has 12 zones with one contractor for each zone. The collected waste goes to Fixed Compactor Transfer Stations (FCTS) – a garbage compressing system that facilitates the transport of garbage to sanitary landfill sites – and Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) for the recovery of recyclables. What the MRFs collect goes to waste-to-energy plants, for composting, and to dumpsites. According to the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, waste should be segregated at source but not everyone in Delhi practices it, says Mr. Yadav. Of the 11,332 TPD of fresh waste, 6,078.5 TPD is processed at four waste-to-energy plants, 622.4 TPD is processed at composters, biogas plants, organic waste convertors and compost pits, 271 TPD is recycled through 170 Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). And the remaining 4,360 TPD is disposed of at the dumpsites. Ghazipur dumpsite is one of the three dumpsites in the national capital Delhi. The other two are Okhla and Bhalswa dumpsites. Dumpsites: Health And Environmental Hazard On April 8, 2016, the Ministry Of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 to lay a solid framework for scientific waste management of waste across urban settlements. The rules apply to all sorts of waste generators: households, event organisers, street vendors, Resident Welfare Associations and Market Associations, gated communities having an area of more than 5,000 square metres, and hotels and restaurants. The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 define “dump sites” as “a land utilised by the local body for the disposal of solid waste without following the principles of sanitary land filling.” Now, what is sanitary landfilling? The rules describe it as, The final and safe disposal of residual solid waste and inert wastes on land in a facility designed with protective measures against pollution of ground water, surface water and fugitive air dust, wind-blown litter, bad odour, fire hazard, animal menace, bird menace, pests or rodents, greenhouse gas emissions, persistent organic pollutants slope instability and erosion. Confused about what this means in layman’s language? “While sanitary landfills are scientific structures or containment systems which are engineered and constructed in a way to isolate waste from the surrounding environment, dumpsites are mere pieces of land without any mechanism for pollution control,” says Dr. Richa Singh, Deputy Programme Manager, MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) team, Centre for Science and Environment. She adds that sanitary landfills have barriers of high-density polyethylene and mechanisms to collect and treat leachate (contaminated liquid generated when water percolates through waste), alongwith the ability to collect landfill gas, which primarily consists of methane and treat that as well. “Living around dump sites comes with health challenges as people in close vicinity are exposed to gases like the colourless and odorless Methane, trace gases like H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide), as well as high levels of Particulate Matter and Ammonia,” says Dr. Singh. These gases are carcinogenic in nature. Long-term exposure to these gases can result in respiratory disorders, and at times it can lead to cancer as well. On dumpsites, while biodegradable or wet waste decomposes over time, the anaerobic decomposition (breakdown of organic waste in the absence of oxygen) of organic waste generates methane gas, which is flammable and generates heat. That’s the reason why dumpsites in Delhi, especially in summer, often catch fire. If not fire, then these are always smoldering in patches, says Dr. Singh. As an interim solution (till the remediation of all the legacy waste is done), a gas collection and treatment system for landfill gases is required. Moreover, landfilling of biodegradable and combustible waste should not be done in the first place to prevent the leachate and landfill gas issue. According to the data received from Delhi Fire Services, between 2019 and 2022, the Department received 33 fire calls each from Bhalswa and Okhla dumpsite and 23 from Ghazipur. In March 2020, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) formed a committee comprising the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, and IIT Delhi to prepare a report on the “Assessment of the amount of damage to environment on account of dumpsites in Delhi”. As per the report prepared by the joint committee in January 2021, the three dumpsites have collectively caused nearly Rs. 450 crore in damage to the environment. The study has assessed the ecological damage caused due to Bhalswa dumpsite at Rs 155.9 crore, Okhla at Rs 151.1 crore and Ghazipur at Rs 142.5 crore. Delhi’s Efforts To Clear Up Legacy Waste Currently, these dumpsites appear to be like hills in the middle of a bustling metropolis. The garbage mountains in Ghazipur and Bhalswa continue to receive fresh waste regularly and a strong stench engulfs the surroundings. In an effort to clear up the dumpsite, the waste dumping has stopped at the Okhla site but the other two continue to receive fresh municipal solid waste on a regular basis. The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2016 urge local authorities to “investigate and analyse all old open dumpsites and existing operational dumpsites for their potential of biomining and bio-remediation and where ever feasible, take necessary actions to bio-mine or bio-remediate the sites.” The oldest dumpsite in Ghazipur was commissioned in 1984 and crossed the permissible height of 20m in 2002. It has been overflowing since then and stands at around 40 meters, as per the MCD. Similarly, Bhalswa dumpsite, started in 1995, exceeded its capacity in 2006 and Okhla dumpsite commissioned in 1996 was declared exhausted in 2010. As per the data received from the MCD, 280 lakh tonnes of legacy waste has been dumped on the three dumpsites as of July 2019, with 140 lakh tonnes on the Ghazipur site alone. The three dumpsites in Delhi have been ticking time bombs with burgeoning waste. Keeping up with the SWM Rules, the MCD decided to opt for bio-mining of legacy waste. On November 3, 2022, the MCD awarded tenders to three companies to process and dispose of 30 lakh tonnes of legacy waste at each of the three sites in 18 months that is by May 2024. When this target is met, the contract will be renewed for additional 15 lakh MTs. Sudhakara Infratech is responsible for managing legacy waste at Ghazipur, GreenTech Environ Management for the Okhla site and Alfa Therm Limited for Bhalswa. “In our agreement, there is an incentive mechanism. If any of the contractors achieve the bio-mining target before the deadline, they will be incentivised,” Mr. Yadav told NDTV. The three companies have adopted tromelling – the process of sieving the waste through trommel machines and segregating it into three categories – to sort the legacy waste. Team Banega Swasth India visited the Okhla dumpsite where 40.88 per cent (24.53 lakh tonnes) of the legacy waste (45 lakh tonnes) has been bio-mined as on January 31, 2023. “The first step is to bio-remediate the waste by using bio-culture. This is to decompose the wet waste. Following this, we practice bio-mining using Klemen screening machines we have got from Germany,” says Ramakant Burman, CEO of GreenTech Environ Management. Trommels are used to segregate waste into three categories – inert waste, construction and demolition (C&D) waste, and a segregated combustible fraction (SCF). At Okhla dumpsite, 80-85 per cent of the legacy waste is inert which is being utilised by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in various road construction projects. Industries having boilers compatible with a segregated combustible fraction (SCF) take that waste to use as fuel. The C&D waste is being utilised in construction industries. “It’s a waste to wealth project,” says Mr. Burman with pride. Mr. Yadav from MCD said that the long-term plan is to reclaim the land by clearing up all three dumpsites and eventually convert it into sanitary landfills. Since 2019, a total of 69.64 lakh tonnes of legacy waste has been bio-mined at three sites. This means 24.87 per cent of the 280 lakh tonnes of waste dumped has been removed as on January 31, 2023. If all three contractors achieve the target of removing 90 lakh tonnes collectively by May 2024, even then roughly half of the piled up waste will remain on these sites to be addressed. And not to forget that the dumping of fresh waste on a daily basis will continue. According to the calculations done by Dr. Singh, Delhi will require five to six years to remediate legacy waste. “The cumulative installed capacity of the trommels at Delhi’s dumpsites is reportedly 22,000 tonnes per day. If we consider that there are nearly 245 working days in a year (excluding three months of monsoons), to clear 280 lakh tonnes of legacy waste (dumped as of July 2019), Delhi will require five to six years to remediate all three sites provided that no fresh waste is getting dumped there,” Dr. Singh says. However, the Delhi government is being ambitious about clearing all the dumpsites as early as possible. The state government is targeting to remove the three garbage mountains in two years and is offering Rs. 850 crore for flattening the sites. During the Delhi Government’s budget presentation on March 22, Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot announced the ambitious deadline for clearing all three dumpsites by the end of 2024. He said that the Okhla dumpsite will be removed by December 2023, Bhalswa by March 2024 and Ghazipur by December 2024. Interestingly, the Delhi government, led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), fought the MCD elections in December 2022 on the promise of clearing up all three dumpsites. Now that AAP has won the municipal elections and is in control of MCD, NDTV asked an AAP representative about the plan to clear up the garbage and what is needed in terms of resources and infrastructure to get rid of the legacy waste. “There is no magic bullet. All of our urban centers are going through a big crisis of waste,” says Reena Gupta, Advisor, Government of Delhi. “We have to follow three steps – reduce the amount of waste we generate, segregate and dispose of properly.” Ms. Gupta says even though she segregates her waste, the moment it is collected by a waste picker, it gets mixed. The way the contracts are designed, companies that collect waste get paid by weight. It is in the contractor’s interest to mix wet and dry waste and increase the weight of the waste collected. So, the first thing we are going to do is to look at all the contracts signed by erstwhile three MCDs (East, North, South). The key is segregation and decentralised management of waste. This means, the first level of waste segregation has to happen at the household or waste generation level. Then after collection at the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) level and then at the ward level, another round of segregation needs to be practised. If we practice waste segregation, wet waste, which is, biodegradable in nature, can be composted or converted into biogas. “The ultra-pure form of biogas is bio CNG, which is practised by Indore, India’s cleanest city, as per Swachh Survekshan. Dry waste can be recycled. For now, sanitary waste can be sent to bio-medical waste incinerators. And, domestic hazardous waste to common hazardous waste management facilities”, says Dr. Singh. In the process, rejects like drain silt, road dust, or residue solid waste, which doesn’t have any value – only that should be disposed of, ideally into the sanitary or engineered landfill. NDTV’s Banega Swasth India team asked Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal about the lack of implementation of the segregation at source in Delhi, something that is mandated under SWM rules. “Waste segregation should happen at the source and at the household level. Segregation isn’t practised by some households as it is difficult to overnight change the culture of a city. The waste is segregated after being picked up from the households,” said CM Kejriwal. “We plan to create composting area in the MCD parks so that the person who comes to collect garbage or even individuals and RWAs, have a place where they can give waste for composting. A lot of training needs to happen – training of RWAs, mobilisation of citizens of Delhi, so that we get it in our culture that we have to reduce, compost and recycle,” says Ms Gupta. She further added, “Importantly, we have to create scientific landfill sites. There is no place in Delhi.” The Urgency To Clear Up Dumpsites On March 3, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the Okhla dumpsite to take stock of the legacy waste clearing up work. “The bio-mining capacity at Okhla stands at 17,000 MT but we can dispose of only 4,000-4,500 MT of waste daily. As a result of this, we are unable to utilise the bio-mining capacity at full strength. From April, the waste disposal capacity will be increased to 10,000 MT and 15,000 MT from June. With increased capacity, we will be able to meet our deadline by December or January,” he said. On March 16, CM Kejriwal also visited the Bhalswa dumpsite where he said that of the 80 lakh tonnes of waste dumped at Bhalswa, 30 lakh tonnes have been cleared over the last two and a half years or so. By December 2023, another 30 lakh tonnes of waste will be removed and the remaining by March-April 2024. He added, The initial target was to remove 6,500 tonnes of waste per day, but on Wednesday (March 15), 9,000 tonnes was removed. By the end of this month, 12,000 tonnes of waste will be removed every day. Additionally, the major focus of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0 [SBM (U) 2.0] launched on October 1, 2021, is to make cities garbage-free. SBM-U 2.0 focuses on solid waste management through segregation at the source and management of garbage through scientific processes, like dumpsite remediation that is the removal of waste that has accumulated on dumpsites over the years. Under this plan, 2026 is the deadline to remediate all legacy dumpsites. Waste Workers Brigade Living Off Dumpsites As Delhi tries to reduce the discarding of fresh waste on dumpsites and transit to technologies like Waste to Energy (WTE) plants, what will happen to the people who live off these mountains of garbage? For instance, the waste collected from the East Zone used to go to the Ghazipur dumpsite but a huge chunk has been diverted to the Waste to Energy plant in Okhla. This has resulted in the loss of livelihood for people living around the dumpsite. “As a kid, I would find and collect plastic, steel, metal and other valuable items from the garbage,” says Savera. “The waste coming here has been reduced by over 60 per cent. Earlier we would earn Rs. 500 to Rs. 600 a day, but now it is a challenge to earn Rs. 500 in two days.” Now that her family income has halved, Savera is clueless about where to go in search of work. She still makes a trip to the dumpsite with the hope of finding some waste of value. Saddened by the proposed closure of the dumpsite, she says, The government should have provided us an alternative source of livelihood. We are poor. We don’t have savings. Team Banega Swasth India asked CM Kejriwal about his government’s plan to provide an alternative source of livelihood for waste workers. He said, I don’t think there is any systematic plan. Let me find out.

Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Air quality fails to mirror 35% dip in vehicle growth in Delhi

The number of registered vehicles in Delhi plummeted 35.4% in 2021-22 from the previous year. This should have had a salubrious effect on the city’s air quality given that vehicular emission is a major air pollutant. But there was no significant impact on PM2.5 levels, leaving experts to explain that lower registration did not mean fewer vehicles on the roads. Track the pollution level in your city The Economic Survey of Delhi released on Monday said the total number of vehicles on the road reduced because the state government banned petrol and diesel vehicles that had lived out their stipulated lives of, respectively, 15 years and 10 years. Experts pointed out that the fewer registration of vehicles in Delhi did not mean reduction in their usage. Delhi air pollution_1280 Chandra Bhushan, CEO, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iForest), noted, “Over the years, new vehicles were being registered but the old vehicles weren’t being taken off the roads. This is just cleaning up the registration data. Of the total 43.6 lakh deregistered vehicles, 29.7 lakh, or around 69%, were two-wheelers. Only 13.1 lakh vehicles were cars and four wheelers. Besides, the 10- and 15- year-old vehicles going off the road will have a marginal impact on air quality.” Amit Bhatt, managing director (India), International Council on Clean Transportation, pointed out, “The Economic Survey said there was a drop in vehicle registration after the deregistration of old vehicles. However, there is no information on how many vehicles are running in the city as the data only pertains to cumulative registration of motor vehicles.” Bhatt said the decrease in the number of registered vehicles in Delhi did not necessarily indicate a reduction in usage. “Transportation is a significant contributor to air pollution. With the recent increase in motor vehicle sales and traffic congestion, there has been a corresponding rise in transport emissions,” he said. However, Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment, felt that the impact of the phasing out of old vehicles was showing up in the survey. “The numbers have been corrected based on deregistration and scrappage. This reduction may have lessened exposure to toxic emissions from vehicles to some extent. But this is likely to be a temporary dent,” she said. Roychowdhury added that the number of personal vehicles — cars and two wheelers — having grown steadily until the pandemic is now likely to see a rebound effect after the temporary dip. “This is mainly because the public transport ridership is declining.” Officials of the transport department did not respond to TOI’s calls and messages.

Renewable Energy

दिल्ली में अक्षय ऊर्जा को बढ़ावा देने के लिए ‘सामूहिक सौर पैनल’ के प्रोत्साहन पर ज़ोर

दिल्ली सरकार ने साल 2022 की अपनी हालिया ड्राफ्ट सोलर पॉलिसी में प्रस्ताव रखा था कि जिन लोगों के पास सोलर लगवाने का विकल्प या उसके लिए जगह नहीं है उनके लिए सामुदायिक सोलर योजना अपनाई जाए। दिल्ली की साल 2016 की नीति में साल 2020 तक छतों पर सोलर से 1000 मेगावाट बिजली पैदा करने का लक्ष्य रखा गया था। हालांकि, अभी तक सिर्फ 230 मेगावाट का ही लक्ष्य पूरा हो पाया है। विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि घरेलू छतों पर सोलर लगाने की योजना में आकर्षक इन्सेन्टिव की कमी है। इसके अलावा, मौजूदा फ्री बिजली योजना की वजह से सोलर सिस्टम की तरफ ग्राहक उदासीन हैं। राष्ट्रीय राजधानी दिल्ली ने साल 2016 में आई अपनी आखिरी सोलर नीति में ऐलान किया था कि साल 2020 के अंत तक रूफटॉप सेटअप यानी लोगों के घरों की छतों पर सोलर पैनल लगाकर 1000 मेगावाट बिजली सौर ऊर्जा से पैदा की जाएगी। हालांकि, दिल्ली सरकार के मुताबिक, छतों पर सौर ऊर्जा से अभी तक 230 मेगावाट बिजली पैदा की जा रही है। यह उस लक्ष्य के 25 प्रतिशत से भी कम है जिसे 3 साल पहले हासिल कर लिया जाना चाहिए था। ग्राहकों और कंपनियों को इन्सेन्टिव दिए जाने और 500 वर्ग मीटर की छत वाली सरकारी इमारतों पर सोलर पैनल लगाना अनिवार्य किए जाने के बावजूद इतना ही लक्ष्य हासिल किया जा सका है। अभी 2016 की नीति का 1000 मेगावाट का लक्ष्य पूरा नहीं हो सका है लेकिन दिल्ली सरकार अपनी नई ड्राफ्ट सोलर पॉलिसी 2022 ले आई है। इस नीति के तहत छतों पर लगाए जाने वाले सोलर में बढ़ोतरी की जानी है। इस पॉलिसी का लक्ष्य है कि छतों पर लगे सोलर की क्षमता को बढ़ाकर 750 मेगावाट तक पहुंचाना है और दिल्ली के बाहर के यूटिलिटी स्केल सोलर प्रोजेक्ट के तहत 5,250 मेगावाट क्षमता जोड़ी जानी है और इस तरह अगले 3 सालों में यानी 2025-26 तक सौर ऊर्जा की क्षमता को बढ़ाकर 6,000 मेगावाट तक पहुंचाना है। यह नीति कहती है कि फिलहाल दिल्ली में वार्षिक ऊर्जा जरूरतों का सिर्फ 9 प्रतिशत हिस्सा छतों पर लगाए गए सोलर और यूटिलिटी स्केलर सोलर से मिलता है। नई नीति की योजना है कि 2025 के अंत तक इस वार्षिक ऊर्जा खपत में इस हिस्सेदारी को बढ़ाकर 25 प्रतिशत तक पहुंचाया जाए। इस नीति का लक्ष्य है कि 2025 के आखिर तक कोयले से बानी बिजली यानी थर्मल एनर्जी से ज्यादा सौर ऊर्जा की हिस्सेदारी हो जाए। सरकार सामुदायिक सोलर रूफटॉप की अवधारणा भी लाई है जिसमें वो लोग, जो फ्लैट या अपार्टमेंट में रहते हैं या जिनकी छत छोटी है, साथ आकर किसी एक जगह पर सोलर पैनल लगवा सकते हैं और अपने-अपने निवेश के हिसाब से सौर ऊर्जा का फायदा ले सकते हैं। यह सबकुछ ग्रुप नेट-मीटरिंग या वर्चुअल मीटरिंग की मदद से संभव किया जा सकता है। सरकार का दावा है कि इस नीति के तहत घरेलू ग्राहकों को सहायता भी दी जा रही है ताकि रूफटॉप सोलर लगाने के लिए आने वाले बड़े खर्च से बचा जा सके। इसके लिए, ग्राहकों को रीन्यूएबल एनर्जी सर्विस कंपनी (RESCO) मॉडल से मदद दी जाती है। इस मॉडल में सोलर प्लांट कोई कंपनी लगाती है और ग्राहकों के घर या अन्य जगहों पर सोलर प्लांट लगाने का खर्च वही उठाती है, इसके बदले वह तय पैसे लेती है। अब इस नीति में RESCO मॉडल का हाइब्रिड वर्जन प्रस्तावित है। इसमें सोलर डेवलपर्स और डिस्कॉम के बीच पॉवर परचेज एग्रीमेंट (PPA) या विद्युत क्रय अनुबंध किया जाएगा और ग्राहक और डिस्कॉम के बीच नेट-मीटरिंग एग्रीमेंट किया जाएगा। इस नीति के तहत, दिल्ली सरकार यह दावा भी करती है कि वह निजी और व्यावसायिक ग्राहकों के लिए 500 मेगावाट तक के पहले डेप्लॉयमेंट के लिए जेनरेशन-बेस्ड इन्सेंटिव दे रही है। इसके अलावा, घरेलू ग्राहकों को मदद भी दी जा रही है। इस नीति के तहत, बिना किसी खर्च के अपनी छत पर सोलर लगवाने का असेसमेंट कराया जा सकता है। इसमें, ग्राहक एक सोलर कार्ड रिपोर्ट/सोलर स्कोर बनवा सकता है जो किसी घर की छत या अन्य जगह पर सोलर रूफटॉप की संभावना के बारे में बताता है। रूफटॉप सोलर में बढ़ोतरी की उम्मीद इस क्षेत्र में काम करने वाले विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि नई ड्राफ्ट पॉलिसी 2022 में कुछ बातें ऐसी हैं जो इस सेक्टर को प्रेरणा देंगी। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (CSE) में रीन्यूएबल एनर्जी के डिप्टी प्रोग्राम मैनेजर बिनीत दास ने मोंगाबे-इंडिया से कहा कि दिल्ली के सामने सोलर रूफटॉप लगाने के लिए कुछ समस्याएं हैं, जैसे घरेलू ग्राहकों को इसके लगवाने के लिए ज्यादा खर्च, रूफटॉप सोलर लगाने के लिए मिलने वाली सब्सिडी का देरी से मिलना और शहर में सोलर लगवाने वाले ग्राहकों की संख्या बढ़ने से डिस्कॉम कंपनियों की आमदनी में कमी आना। वह कहते हैं कि राजधानी दिल्ली में कमर्शियल और इंडस्ट्रियल जगहों पर लोगों ने ज्यादा बिजली की मांग को पूरी करने के लिए सोलर प्लांट लगवाए हैं ताकि बिजली का बिल कम किया जा सके। बिनीत दास ने मोंगाबे इंडिया से कहा, “नई पॉलिसी में ‘हाइब्रिड RESCO मॉडल’ जैसे कुछ समाधान भी हैं जिसमें सोलर डेवलपर्स (RESCO) ग्राहकों के घरों की छतों पर सोलर रूफटॉप लगाते हैं और डिस्कॉम कंपनियों से संपर्क रखते हैं। इसमें सीधे ग्राहकों को बिजली देने के बजाय ये सोलर डेवलपर एक PPA के जरिए डिस्कॉम कंपनियों को बिजली बेचते हैं। ग्राहक इसके बदले बिजली कंपनियों को पैसे चुकाते हैं और अपने बिजली पर उन्हें मीटरिंग बेनिफिट मिलते हैं। इसमें डेवलपर के चुनाव और बिजली का रेट तय करने का काम पूरी तरह से डिस्कॉम कंपनियों का होता है। इससे डिस्कॉम कंपनियों और ग्राहकों दोनों को फायदा होगा।” उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि नई नीति के तहत घरेलू ग्राहकों को जेनरेशन बेस्ड इन्सेन्टिव या बिजली उत्पादन के आधार पर दिए जाने वाले इनाम का प्रस्ताव एक बार मिलने वाली सब्सिडी की तुलना में सरकार के लिए काफी सस्ता और प्रभावी है। साल 2016 में आई पिछली नीति की में पैदा की जाने वाली बिजली के लिए जेनरेशन-बेस्ड इन्सेन्टिव 2 रुपये प्रति यूनिट था। नई नीति में इसे बढ़ाकर अधिकतम 3 किलोवाट क्षमता वाले सोलर रूफटॉप प्लांट लगाने वाले लोगों के लिए 3 रुपये प्रति यूनिट कर दिया है। यह इन्सेन्टिव ग्राहकों के घर पर सोलर प्लांट से पैदा हुई बिजली के आधार पर दिया जाता है। बिनीत दास आगे कहते हैं, “सोलर प्लांट लगाना और उससे बिजली पैदा काफी कठिन काम है। कई बार तो रख-रखाव खराब होने की वजह से कई सोलर प्लांट बिजली पैदा नहीं कर पाते हैं लेकिन अगर उनके लिए हर यूनिट के हिसाब से सब्सिडी दी जाए तो सोलर प्लांट लगाने वाले लोगों को इसका रख-रखाव बेहतर करने और ज्यादा बिजली पैदा करने में प्रोत्साहन मिलेगा और इससे दिल्ली में सोलर प्लांट्स से बिजली का उत्पादन बढ़ेगा।” इन इन्सेन्टिव के अलावा, यह नीति सौर ऊर्जा पर टैक्स और शुल्क में छूट दिए जाने पर भी चर्चा की गई है। अन्य विशेषज्ञों का कहना है कि दिल्ली के लिए ‘सामुदायिक सोलर’ काफी हद तक नया है। राष्ट्रीय राजधानी दिल्ली की तरह ही भारत के ज्यादातर राज्य ऐसे हैं जहां शहरी इलाकों में जनसंख्या काफी ज्यादा है और वहां बिजली की मांग भी बहुत ज्यादा है। आंकड़ों के मुताबिक, दिल्ली में राष्ट्रीय औसत की तुलना में प्रति व्यक्ति बिजली की मांग ज्यादा है। सेंटर फॉर एनवायरनमेंट एंड एनर्जी डेवलपमेंट (CEED) में क्लीन एनर्जी के हेड अश्विनी अशोक ने मोंगाबे इंडिया से कहा कि कम्युनिटी सोलर रूफटॉप योजना कई ऐसे लोगों की बिजली की जरूरतों को पूरा कर सकती है जो निजी जगहों की कमी की वजह से सोलर रूफटॉप लगा नहीं सकते या अभी तक वे सोलर नहीं लगवा पाए हैं। इस तरह के ग्राहकों में अपार्टमेंट या प्लैट में रहने वाले लोग, कई मंजिला इमारतों में रहने वाले लोग या छोटी जगहों में बिना पक्की छतों वाले घरों या झुग्गियों में रहने वाले लोग शामिल हैं। अशोक कहते हैं कि अगर इस पॉलिसी को अच्छे से लागू किया जाए तो इससे दिल्ली में रूफटॉप सोलर से बिजली का कुल उत्पादन काफी बढ़ाया जा सकता है। अशोक इस नई नीति को लागू करने में आने वाली चुनौतियों के बारे में भी चर्चा करते हैं। वह कहते हैं, “दिल्ली में सौर ऊर्जा को हमेशा से सरकार की 100 यूनिट हर महीने मुफ्त बिजली योजना से कड़ी चुनौती मिलती है। ऐसी बिजली का फायदा उठा रहे ग्राहक मुश्किल से ही तैयार होते हैं कि वे सोलर प्लांट लगाने का इतना भारी भरकम खर्च उठा सकते हैं। इस नीति के तहत राजधानी दिल्ली की सरकार काफी आकर्षक इन्सेन्टिव भी नहीं देती है। इसके अलावा, छोटे घरों के लिए मिलने वाला जेनरेशन बेस्ड इन्सेन्टिव भी काफी मामूली है और वह सिर्फ पांच सालों के लिए सीमित है जबकि ऐसे सोलर प्लांट से 25 सालों तक बिजली पैदा की जा सकेगी। ज्यादातर लोग तो इस सब्सिडी के लिए योग्य ही नहीं माने जाएंगे। अगर हम दिल्ली में रूफटॉप सोलर को बढ़ाना चाहते हैं तो हमें इन्सेन्टिव को बढ़ाना होगा और लागत पर भी छूट देनी होगी क्योंकि ग्राहक वही चाहते हैं।” उन्होंने यह भी कहा कि 2016 की नीति में कागजों पर दर्ज होने के बावजूद RESCO मॉडल घरेलू ग्राहकों को लुभाने में नाकामयाब रहा है क्योंकि सोलर डेवलपर्स को छोटे यूनिट्स के लिए यह मॉडल वित्तीय रूप से ठीक नहीं लगता है। यह मॉडल औद्योगिक क्षेत्र और सामाजिक क्षेत्र में क्लीन एनर्जी प्रोजेक्ट जैसे कि केंद्र सरकार की सोलर-सिंचाई योजना PM-KUSUM तक ही सीमित रहा है। कम जगह और बड़े स्तर के सोलर प्रोजेक्ट्स के अभाव में दिल्ली अब सौर उर्जा जरूरतों को पूरा करने के लिए सोलर रूफटॉप योजना पर फोकस कर रही है। साल 2022 की ड्राफ्ट पॉलिसी के मुताबिक, ज़्यादातर बड़े सोलर प्रोजेक्ट (5250 मेगावाट तक) दिल्ली से बाहर लगने वाले प्रोजेक्ट की मदद से चालू किए जाएंगे। इसका मतलब है कि सोलर प्लांट की मदद से पैदा की गई बिजली दूसरे राज्यों से आयात की जा सकेगी, ठीक उसी तरह जैसे पिछले कई सालों से दिल्ली में बिजली दूसरे राज्यों से आ रही है। दिल्ली का एनर्जी ट्रांजिशन हाल ही में फ़िनलैंड की लाप्पिनरांटा-लाहटी यूनिवर्सिटी ऑफ़ टेक्नोलॉजी (LUT) यूनिवर्सिटी के शोधकर्ताओं ने दिल्ली में बिजली के ट्रांजिशन पर एक रिसर्च की है। इस रिसर्च में पता चला है कि अगर दिल्ली में साल 2050 तक पॉलिसी अपना सबसे बेहतरीन प्रदर्शन करे और 100 प्रतिशत ट्रांजिशन का इस्तेमाल करे तो दिल्ली सबसे ज्यादा बिजली सौर ऊर्जा से मिलने वाली बिजली से लेगी और इसमें सबसे ज्यादा हिस्सा उन लोगों का होगा जो खुद बिजली बनाकर उसका इस्तेमाल कर रहे होंगे। इसके अलावा, कुछ बिजली राजस्थान और हिमाचल प्रदेश जैसे अक्षय ऊर्जा के धनी राज्यों से भी मिलेगी। इस स्टडी के सह-लेखक मनीष राम ने मोंगाबे इंडिया को बताया कि दिल्ली में जगह की कमी के चलते, बड़ी क्षमता वाले सोलर प्लांट नहीं बनाए जा सकते और इसीलिए सोलर रूफटॉप और इसके ग्राहकों में बढ़ोतरी आने की भरपूर संभावना है। दिल्ली सरकार की 2016 की नीति के मुताबिक, दिल्ली में सूरज की अच्छी रोशनी वाले दिन 300 से ज्यादा होते हैं। इससे घरों की छतों पर लगे सोलर पैनल से साल भर में 2500 मेगावाट से ज्यादा बिजली पैदा की जा सकती है। इसमें लोगों की घरों पर लगने वाले सोलर पैनल से 49 प्रतिशत, सरकारी दफ्तरों से 26 प्रतिशत और कमर्शियल और इंडस्ट्रियल यूनिट्स से 25 प्रतिशत बिजली पैदा की जा सकती है। मनीष राम ने मोंगाबे इंडिया से बातचीत में कहा, “ऐसी स्थितियों में दिल्ली के लिए सबसे बेहतर विकल्प यही है कि वह घरेलू और व्यावसायिक इमारतों की छतों का भरपूर इस्तेमाल करे। अभी भी दिल्ली में ज्यादातर बिजली दूसरे राज्यों से ही आती है और भविष्य में भी यही जारी रहने की संभावना है। दिल्ली आने वाले समय में राजस्थान, हरियाणा और आसपास के इलाकों में सोलर पावर प्लांट लगाने के लिए निवेश कर सकती है और उनके साथ PPA साइन करके ‘क्लीन एनर्जी मिक्स बास्केट’ को बढ़ा सकती है। राजस्थान जैसे रीन्यूएबल एनर्जी के मामले में धनी राज्यों में क्लीन एनर्जी पैदा करने का खर्च दिल्ली की तुलना में कम है। ऐसे इलाकों का दिल्ली फायदा उठा सकती है।”

Water Programme

India can show the world how water management can be reinvented: CSE

“Even as the United Nations has launched a global campaign called ‘Be the Change’ to mark the World Water Day, India is already showcasing real action on the ground. It is already holding up a picture of how big change is possible. And this is evident in the way states like Uttar Pradesh are tackling the challenge of providing sustainable and inclusive sanitation and water for all,” said Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), while speaking at a national workshop organised here today to mark the World Water Day. Speaking on the occasion, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Minister of urban development, Uttar Pradesh, said: “The World Water Day and our deliberations and discussions on this day are important because we are living today in a time of great crisis in terms of water – a crisis of availability and access, of quality, of lack of sanitation and proper wastewater management, and upsetting of the water cycle due to climate change.” Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, who addressed the workshop as well, said: “There is no ‘waste’ water – we only have ‘used’ water. Reduce, reuse and recycle should be the mantra of our life. We need to treat and reuse all water. Since 2014, India has remained committed and on course to a paradigm change in water and sanitation management – sanitation is a public movement in our country today.” The other key speakers at the event were Kaushal Kishore, Union minister of state, ministry of housing and urban affairs; Amrit Abhijat, principal secretary, department of urban development, government of Uttar Pradesh; Neha Sharma, state mission director-SBM, government of Uttar Pradesh; Ranjan Kumar, state mission director-AMRUT, government of Uttar Pradesh; Anil Dhingra, managing director, UP Jal Nigam (urban); Prasanta K Mohapatra, engineer-in-chief, Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board; and Depinder Singh Kapur, programme director-water, CSE. On this occasion, CSE released a series of reports based on ground studies on water and sanitation management in Uttar Pradesh The scenario in Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state of India; 95 per cent of its cities and towns are totally dependent on non-sewered sanitation systems. Only 31 towns (out of the 734 in the state) have partial sewerage systems that manage to treat just 40 per cent of the sewage generated. Says Depinder Kapur from CSE: “This is the reason why sustainable and inclusive scientific management of faecal sludge and septage is a priority for UP. The state’s poor are largely dependent on on-site sanitation systems — therefore, providing an effective and affordable septage management system will generate significant social, environmental and public health outcomes.” According to Subrata Chakraborty, senior programme manager-water, CSE, “Uttar Pradesh has been moving ahead towards its goal of promoting inclusive sanitation for all. A septage management policy is in place, 59 towns and cities have set up treatment systems, and with the support provided by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the towns of Bijnor and Chunar now have fully functional faecal sludge and co-treatment systems in place.” There are 62 FSSM projects in UP (40 FSTPs and 22 co-treatment plants) — out of this, 36 plants (27 FSTPs and nine co-treatment plants) are fully completed and ready to begin operations as of February 2023. The installed and under-construction capacity of UP’s septage treatment infrastructure stands at 2,075 kilolitre per day (KLD). The state has committed to establishing a network called “Super 59 Faecal Sludge Management Towns”, as the first step of a long term strategy to promote inclusive sanitation. From the workshop… Speaking on the inaugural day of the workshop, Kaushal Kishore underlined the emphasis that the Central government has been giving to water and sanitation issues. Water harvesting, groundwater recharge, rejuvenation of water bodies, and the importance of the role played by sanitation workers were some of the key thrust areas that his ministry was focusing on, he said. In her address on the second day of the workshop, Narain pointed out that India’s “experience has been invaluable in teaching the world how water management can be reinvented so that it is affordable and sustainable”. The ‘Indian way’, she said, puts water in the hands of communities and is focused on decentralised recharge and reuse. “Making water everybody’s business is the only way ahead. This is the opportunity – in this decade, we can put all we have learnt into practice and turn around the water-story of India,” said Narain. Narain pointed out that this was “even more important in today’s climate-risked world. We must scale up our work to invest in water systems and make them durable, not just to withstand another rain, but another deluge. We need to speed up our work, because climate change will make sure that we have more rain, but in fewer rainy days. This means doing much more to capture the rain, when and where it falls so that groundwater is recharged.” She added: “For a country like India, the issue of water is not about scarcity but about its careful use and about its equitable and distributed access. How we manage our water resources would determine if we remain poor or become rich; diseased or healthy. In other words, water is the determinant of our future. Water management strategies will need to be carefully designed so that they lead to distributed wealth generation.” (A CSE Media Briefing) (Report sent by Pratyusha Mukherjee)

Rural Water-Waste Management

'Community Participation न होने की वजह से हमने हर बार Slippage देखा है'- सुष्मिता सेनगुप्ता (सीनियर प्रोग्राम मैनेजर ऑफ वाटर प्रोग्रामिंग, CSE)

'Community Participation न होने की वजह से हमने हर बार Slippage देखा है'- सुष्मिता सेनगुप्ता (सीनियर प्रोग्राम मैनेजर ऑफ वाटर प्रोग्रामिंग, CSE)

Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

Garbage Mountains – Dotting The Landscape Of Delhi

Solid Waste Management and Circular Economy

The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi’s Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis

Delhi relies on a largely informal sector of over 1.5 lakh waste workers to collect, segregate and recycle 20-25% of its waste. As the capital tries to transition to Waste-To-Energy plants, it may be leaving its ragpickers unacknowledged and unrewarded New Delhi: It is quarter to 1 pm in January, the winter sun is shining bright, providing respite from Delhi’s chilly temperatures. Amaruddin is disappointed. Attired in ragged trousers and an old, half-sleeve pink T-shirt that may have seen better days, Amaruddin is walking empty-handed towards his home in the narrow by-lanes of Ghazipur. “I went to the dumpsite but didn’t get any valuable waste to bring home,” he says, justifying his early return. Amaruddin, who hails from West Bengal, came to Ghazipur, an area near the Delhi-Ghaziabad border, with his father in search of a better life. Amaruddin’s father used to collect and sort waste at the Ghazipur dumpsite – the oldest site in Delhi commissioned in 1984 – for a living. Carrying forward his legacy are Amaruddin and his brother Allahuddin. “Waste picking job is demanding. You have to climb the mountain every day and look through the waste. It takes 25 minutes to reach the top,” says Amaruddin. When working at the garbage dump, I slog for two days, followed by a day’s rest to recover from the physical exhaustion. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Two men climbing the tiny waste hill, in Delhi Also Read: Garbage Mountains – Dotting The Landscape Of Delhi In the last 20 years, Amaruddin has tried his hands at multiple jobs – as a waste worker at a dumpsite, a helper at a shop and even at Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant for three to four years. “At a WTE plant, I used to earn Rs. 12,000 per month, less than what I make from the dumpsite, but I was satisfied because there was a fixed income and a sense of safety and security,” he says. Many years ago, the plant was shut for maintenance and I lost the job. We were assured that we will be hired back in six months, but when the plant reopened, they got new machines and new labour from other parts of the country. Some people even paid to get a job. Currently, Amaruddin is out of work, as the fresh Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) coming to Ghazipur has reduced to around 1,500 Tonnes Per Day (TPD) from 2,000-2,200 TPD until very recently. In addition, trommel machines have been placed at the dumpsite to treat legacy waste that has piled up over the decades, creating a man-made trash mountain of around 40 meters. In 2019, the height of the Ghazipur dumpsite was 65 meters (213 feet) high, only eight meters short of Qutub Minar, a UNESCO heritage site in Delhi. As per the data received from the MCD, 280 lakh tonnes of legacy waste has been dumped on the three dumpsites as of July 2019, with 140 lakh tonnes on the Ghazipur site alone. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Waste workers of Ghazipur sort waste while sitting in between heaps of garbage Amaruddin’s income supports his wife, two young kids, aged 5 and 3, a blind mother and a father who suffers from Tuberculosis. He expects at least one person from the family, who has lived off these waste mountains, to get a job at the WTE. Nove Bibi, 45, another resident of a colony adjoining the dumpsite, feels that waste management “has now become a man’s job”. Around 16 years ago, Nove Bibi along with her young kids arrived by train to Delhi from Kolkata without a ticket. A courageous woman, she made the move to escape the abuse she and her children suffered in the hands of her drug-addict husband. “I don’t like Delhi anymore,” says Nove Bibi. “The dumpsite is shut. The height of the dump yard has increased many folds, making it difficult for us to climb. Men can still find work, but where will I go at this age? People who have land can practice farming. What will I do? I want to work. Give me work,” she pleads. Also Read: Living In The Shadows Of Asia’s Largest Garbage Mountain, The Ghazipur Landfill Nove Bibi’s daughter, Manjura, used to work at a WTE plant for Rs. 15,000 a month. This was before the plant stopped hiring women. “Going to a dumpsite is physically taxing, as it is one tall mountain, and my back and legs hurt,” says Manjura. Whereas, at WTE, you work eight hours a day, six days a week, and get a decent sum of money. The work there is good. Provide me with work at WTE and I will do it happily. NDTV’s team Banega Swasth India tried reaching out to the WTE plant official in Ghazipur to validate the claims made by the informal sector waste workers about losing their jobs at the plant because of maintenance and lay-offs, but didn’t get any response. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Welcome to the Ghazipur dumpsite in the national capital Delhi Dumpsites: Health And Environmental Hazard Experts state that physical weariness is nothing compared to the severe health hazards one is exposed to in and around dumpsites which carry all sorts of waste. The biodegradable or wet waste decomposes over time. The anaerobic decomposition (breakdown of organic waste in the absence of oxygen) of organic waste generates methane gas, which is flammable and gives rise to heat—which explains why many dumpsites in Delhi catch fire during summer months, or are always smoldering with slow flames in some areas. According to the data received from Delhi Fire Services, the Department received 33 fire calls each from Bhalswa and Okhla dumpsite and 23 from Ghazipur between 2019 and 2022. Garbage Mountains – Dotting The Landscape Of Delhi Instances of fire at Delhi’s dumpsites – Ghazipur, Bhalswa, Okhla (2019-2022) “Mixed waste (at dumpsites) catching fire releases dioxins and furans, toxic chemicals which are carcinogenic in nature. There are other harmful gases like Methane and H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide), as well as high levels of Particulate Matter and Ammonia,” says Dr. Richa Singh, Deputy Programme Manager, MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) team, Centre for Science and Environment. Long-term exposure to these gases can result in respiratory disorders, and at times it can lead to cancer as well. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis A fire broke out at Bhalswa dumpsite on April 26, 2022 NDTV team tried visiting the Ghazipur dumpsite but was stopped at the entrance by the representatives of the MCD because of the “dangerous gases” and the “risk of the mountain of garbage collapsing”. Also Read: Solid Waste Management In India: The Challenge Of Growing Mountains Of Garbage – Landfills A walk around any of the three dumpsites in Delhi is impossible without covering one’s nose. A thriving breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes that can cause various vector borne diseases, the potential health hazard of these dumpsites are quite worrying given the contamination they cause of air, groundwater and the overall surroundings. But people like Amaruddin and Nove Bibi are indifferent to it as for them it is a matter of livelihood over health. They say they discover a variety of products in the garbage: sanitary waste, bio-medical waste such as COVID masks and gloves, e-waste such as used batteries, and many other hazardous items. “When waste pickers collect garbage with their bare hands, they often get injured as sharps are lying around. They inhale toxic fumes daily. These people have headaches, nausea, gastroenteritis, and spinal problems. While we can criticise and say why these people live here if it is hazardous, it is their livelihood,” says Chitra Mukherjee, Consultant, Waste and Sustainable Livelihood. A report titled “Assessment of the amount of damage to environment on account of dumpsites in Delhi” in January 2021 by a joint committee of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and IIT Delhi revealed “high level of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Fe (Iron) in ground water at all three sites” which may be due to leachate from the dumpsite. “Very high levels of COD, Chloride, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Soluble Solids (TSS), and turbidity were reported in the surface water body (Bhalswa lake) located within a radius of 0-1 km from the Bhalswa site, which may be due to leachate from the dumpsite,” according to the report. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Delhi’s Bhalswa dumpsite, started in 1995, exceeded its capacity in 2006 Waste-To-Energy Plants: A Solution? A waste-to-energy plant is a technology that uses waste to generate electricity. Currently, Delhi has four operational waste-to-energy plants at Okhla, Ghazipur, Bawana, and Tehkhand. Together, they process 6,078.5 tonnes of fresh waste and 828 tonnes of Refused Derived Fuel (RDF) that comes from the dumpsites. Along with this, two more WTEs are proposed – one at Narela-Bawana and another at Ghazipur. The expansion of existing WTEs at Okhla and Bawana has also been proposed. As per Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 only non-recyclable waste with a calorific value of 1500 K/cal/kg or more should be utilised in WTE plants. However, as per the information shared by the MCD, all WTEs in Delhi receive mixed waste. “These are expensive plants, requiring constant monitoring. The way electricity is produced is negligible. It doesn’t take care of any of our electricity needs in the city. Also, waste generated in India is low in calorific value, high in moisture content, and is less than 1500 K/cal/kg. We are using a lot of the government’s money on a technology that really doesn’t work in the Indian context”, says Ms Mukherjee. It’s being used because incineration is an easy option. As an alternative, we should consider reusing, recycling and composting. Also Read: Garbage Management Crisis: How Effective Are Waste To Energy Treatment Plants? Instead of becoming a solution, WTE plants have become an added problem, say experts like Ms. Mukherjee. A case in point is the Okhla plant, located 35 meters away from 806 DDA SFS Flats of Pocket A and Pocket B of Sukhdev Vihar, which is in close vicinity of densely populated colonies of Hajji Colony, Gajar Manjil, and Noor Nagar. The pollution caused by Okhla WTE is such that the doctors are now advising residents to relocate, if possible. Polluted particles deposit on the lungs and cause respiratory distress. People with compromised immunity, children, the elderly and pregnant women are at a higher risk of developing infections and diseases. “My patients have reported an increase in instances of dermatitis, itching, hypertension and constant headache,” says Dr. Neeta Mishra, Senior Consultant at Apollo Hospitals and a gynecologist, who runs Divine Clinic in Sukhdev Vihar. Pregnant women tell me that when they move to some other part of Delhi, like if they stay at their relative’s place because of this additional burden of pollution coming from WTE, they feel better. Air pollution can shorten lives by almost 10 years in the Indian capital, Delhi, the world’s most polluted city, according to the Air Quality Life Index 2022, produced by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). The toxic gases released from WTE add to the pollution burden. With mothers getting less oxygen or clean air to breathe, babies’ IQ can be affected. We are playing with the health of our future generations, says Dr. Mishra. Also Read: Disease, Disability And Death: Impact Of Exposure To Air Pollution Dr. Shailendra Bhadoriya, Consultant Cardiologist at BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital moved to Sukhdev Vihar in 2011, when the Okhla WTE started its operations. According to him, his four-member family developed asthma ever since they moved here because of work. “We see fumes coming out of the WTE plant. Sometimes they are shadowed by the fog and pollution,” says Dr. Bhadoriya, whose children are aged 5 and 12. We moved here because I used to work at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in this area. None of us were asthmatic before we shifted to this place. Today, we all are asthmatic. My son got admitted to ICU twice in the last six months. Concerned about health hazards from toxic fumes, the residents of Sukhdev Vihar filed a petition in 2009 seeking to invoke Article 21 of the Constitution of India which ensures the “Right to Life”. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Smoke coming out of Okhla WTE, as captured by a resident of Sukhdev Vihar The petition sought relief as such: “Public Interest Litigation (PIL) under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that the construction of the proposed Waste to Energy plant close to Okhla STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) should be stopped”. While court proceedings continued, in January 2011, Okhla WTE, namely Timarpur Okhla Waste Management Company Ltd. started its operations. After four years, in February 2013, the case moved to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) where the plant manager M/s Jindal Infrastructure Ltd. refuted all allegations of the Sukhdev Vihar Residents’ Welfare Association stating, “It is specifically denied that the impact of the plant will endanger the lives of the residents and there would be a constant foul smell that will suffocate the atmosphere. Now, when the plant is in operation, there is no odour of municipal solid waste. The plant is a state-of-the-art facility for the purpose of MSW processing.” But, the varied assessments paint a different picture. Ranjit Devraj, a Resident of Sukhdev Vihar took us through the timeline of the legal proceedings as he has been actively involved in the case. In April 2013, testing by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) showed dioxins and furans being emitted by the plant. In September 2013 again DPCC reported high levels of dioxins and furans. Later, in November 2016, the NGT warned the plant operator that it will order a shutdown after DPCC admits that there are high levels of pollution coming out of the plant, said Mr. Devraj. After multiple proceedings, in January 2017, the NGT granted permission for the plant to operate on the condition that it “would not cause any environmental pollution”. The NGT also levied Environmental Compensation of Rs. 25 lakh “for the pollution resulting from deficient functioning/operation of ‘Waste to Energy Plant’ and its stack emissions being in excess of prescribed parameters up to the period of December 18, 2014.” Dissatisfied with the hearing, in May 2017, the residents challenged the decision in the Supreme Court and currently, the case is pending. They appealed for an urgent hearing earlier this year in January, given the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change accorded environment clearance for the expansion of the Waste to Energy plant upto 40MW. “The matter is sub judice. The WTE plant used to be polluting. But, as he (Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti) says, we are complying with the CPCB norms. If the residents of Sukhdev Vihar are still agitated, I will check,” said CM Arvind Kejriwal during a press briefing after his visit to the Bhalswa dumpsite on March 16. WTE plants cause severe environmental damage and there is evidence to support that. Despite this, the MCD is looking to establish more WTEs and expand the capacity of the existing ones. “Delhi is a landlocked city with a scarcity of land. A WTE plant set-up on 15 acres of land helps manage 3,000 TPD of waste. There is no better waste processing facility. On the contrary, a bio-CNG plant of capacity 300 TPD requires six to seven acres of land”, says Dinesh Yadav, Chief Engineer at the Department Of Environmental Management at the MCD. In our new contracts, like for WTE in Narela, we have put a disincentive mechanism that the operator will have to pay Rs. 300 per metric of bottom ash. This means, now the WTE plant operator will try to take care of bottom ash at his end instead of sending it to dumpsites. While answering NDTV’s team’s question on WTEs, CM Arvind Kejriwal supported the use of the technology and said the city is generating electricity from waste. “In most waste-to-energy plants, segregation of waste is not necessary anymore,” he said. However, in an exclusive interview with Banega Swasth India, Reena Gupta, Advisor, Government of Delhi opposed WTEs. “We are very clear, we don’t want any more WTEs in Delhi. These are highly polluting and WTEs are not meant for populations like us. But, we want to look at the existing WTEs and see if we can change their technology. Is it possible that they become less polluting than they are right now?” she asks. Delhi’s Waste Management Plan Excludes A Skillful Resource – Waste Workers The transition to technologies like WTE plants is not only impacting the environment but has also come with a big hit to waste workers, a transition that has not been just. The SWM Rules define a “waste picker as a person or groups of persons informally engaged in collection and recovery of reusable and recyclable solid waste from the source of waste generation, the streets, bins, material recovery facilities, processing and waste disposal facilities for sale to recyclers directly or through intermediaries to earn their livelihood.” Also Read: Understanding Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 As per Ms. Mukherjee, Delhi relies on a largely informal sector of over 1,50,000 waste workers to collect, segregate and recycle 20-25% of its waste. Yet they remain unacknowledged and unrewarded. They provide an essential service of door-to-door waste collection and segregation. This helps prevent the creation of more landfills as recyclable dry waste is segregated out of the waste stream and recycled. “Ek time esa tha, insaan ko kisi cheez ki kami nahi hone di is khatte ne (There was a time when the dumpsite used to fulfill all our needs),” says 28-year-old Sheikh Ibrahim, who lives around the Ghazipur dumpsite. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Ghazipur dumpsite, spread across 72 acres of land Mr. Ibrahim, the youngest of three children, has been going to the dumpsite for the past 19 years to make a living. The food waste from the nearby hotels would also come to the Ghazipur dumpsite. From fruits, rice, bread to pulses, sometimes drivers would bring food from nearby hotels for the kids of the ragpickers, he says. Pet ke liye jaana padta hai. Rozi roti kamane ke liye (We have to go to the dump site every day and deal with waste to earn our daily bread). Mr. Ibrahim says that an individual’s daily earnings from the dumpsite vary from person to person, as it depends on how often one visits the garbage dump and how much time one spends collecting and sorting waste. Back in the day, one could earn Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,000 a day but now it has come down to zero. Machines are being used to bring down the height of the dumpsite and clear up the legacy waste which is why fresh waste from East Zone is not discarded here anymore, he adds. Also Read: Solid Waste Management In India: The Challenge Of Growing Mountains Of Garbage – Landfills For a couple of years, Mr. Ibrahim also worked at the WTE plant in Ghazipur set up by IL&FS Environment on a Public Private Partnership framework. I would bring home Rs. 14,000, post deduction of money for the Provident Fund. However, there were irregularities in salary and when we raised our voice against it, we were laid off. The plant was then shut off for six months for maintenance purposes and we were told that they will hire us back but nothing of that sort happened, he says. The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 and Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016 have mandated the inclusion of informal waste workers in waste management but the on-ground reality is different. The Human And Health Cost Of Delhi's Garbage Mountains And Waste Crisis Marzina Bibi, a waste worker from Delhi cleans and sorts plastic waste for Rs. 300 a day “A legal framework is required to ensure an inclusive and fair transition of waste pickers and other informal workers in the waste value chain, allowing them decent work opportunities in times where increasingly private actors are competing for access to waste,” says Ms. Mukherjee. Team Banega Swasth India asked CM Kejriwal about his government’s plan to provide an alternative source of livelihood for waste workers. He said, I don’t think there is any systematic plan. Let me find out. Experts believe that a just transition can take place if we consider protecting the incomes and livelihoods of waste workers by including them in the country’s waste management planning. “The municipality needs to register waste pickers to set up authorised 100% doorstep collection of waste and ensure only non-recyclable waste goes to landfills,” adds Ms. Mukherjee. Dr. Singh suggests taking lessons from cities like Indore, Pune and Ambikapur that have got waste management in place right from source segregation. Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) signed an MoU with SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling), a cooperative wholly owned by waste pickers/collectors, to decentralise the door-to-door collection of waste. The cooperative members collect segregated waste from over 2,000 households. The non-recyclable waste is further segregated for sale, while the wet/organic and non-recyclable waste is dropped off at PMC ‘feeder points,’ from where it is collected by the municipal garbage trucks and sent to the landfill. “The plan is to involve them (waste workers). Without them, there is no way waste management can actually work. Whenever we redesign the waste collection/management contracts, we will make sure that the informal waste speakers are taken care of,” says Ms. Gupta. As Delhi struggles to manage its waste and seeks solutions, it has lessons to learn from cities like Indore, Pune and Ambikapur, where municipal corporations work effectively with waste collectors.

Director General Office

Reinvent economic growth model

Climate change is an existential threat, we know that. But what we continue to deny is the need for drastic emission reduction, that too in a world where millions still need the right to development. In India, the poor, already surviving on the margins, are severely impacted by extreme weather events. They are the first victims of climate change — and remember, always, that they have not contributed to the stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. So, as we move ahead, we must recognise the imperative of climate justice. The reasons are inconvenient but simple. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has a long residence time in the atmosphere and so, what is emitted in the past has accumulated and will "force" temperatures to rise. Then, CO2 is linked to the way the world runs the economy — fossil fuels (coal or gas) are still determinants of growth. Most importantly, millions of people are still waiting to get the benefits of economic progress — which means access to affordable energy. And, this at a time when the world has literally run out of carbon space to accommodate their need for development. So, what will this part of the emerging world do? Their growth — use of fossil fuels — will add to the jeopardy that awaits us. How can this "growth" be reinvented so that it is low-carbon, sustainable and yet affordable? It is not enough to berate and bully the emerging world countries into action. For far too long, the world has worked overtime to erase or dilute climate equity in the negotiations. The much-lauded 2015 Paris Agreement got rid of the very concept of historical emissions; it consigned climate justice to a postscript. t even removed the idea of "compensation" for the loss and damage suffered because of climate change. Worse, it created a weak and meaningless framework of climate action that would depend on what a country could do; not what it was expected to do based on its contribution to the stock of emissions or fair share. It should not surprise us then that the sum of the nationally determined contributions (NDC) — UN jargon for national reduction targets — takes the world towards a minimum of 3°C temperature rise or more. The world should no longer dilly-dally around with empty promises of net-zero targets for 2050. It must discuss how countries will front-load emission reductions for 2030. The "old" industrialised countries and new entrant China have appropriated 73 per cent of the carbon space till 2019, and, even with the reduction targets announced, will occupy 70 per cent by 2030. This is why future actions must accept the reality of climate equity and use it to drive economic growth. If we do this, then the opportunity of real change opens up — if we invest today in the poorest economies they can grow without pollution. For instance, the energy needs of the poorest in the world. Millions of women still use biomass to cook, which adds to their health burden as these stoves are extremely polluting. The way ahead would be to use clean renewables to meet the needs of these households, which are still outside the fossil fuel energy system. But the cost of renewable energy is beyond their affordability. So the world must not preach the need for energy transitions but pay for these to happen — today. This is where the discussions on markets — Article 6 of the Paris Agreement — should be put to work. The current effort is to find smart and cheap ways to build a market instrument that will reduce the cost of carbon purchase from the developing world. A repeat of the complicated, convoluted and cheap Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) must not be allowed. Instead, market instruments should be used for transformational action so that projects that will bring "big bang" carbon reductions can be paid for through this instrument. For instance, the provision of clean energy through millions of mini-grids in the world of the poorest. In this way, the market will be by public policy and intent, and not left to discover new scams in the name of carbon offsets. This is also where discussions on nature-based solutions must be firmly rooted. We must not miss the wood for the trees — literally in this case. There is an opportunity to use the ecological wealth of poor countries and communities for mitigation as trees and natural ecosystems sequester CO2. So, trees should not be viewed as carbon sticks but as opportunities for livelihoods and economic well-being of the poor. The rules for carbon offsets for forests must be developed with this in mind — deliberately and with statecraft. The fact is, we have lost precious time in finding "smart" ways to do as little as possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and it is time this stopped. We need to drive policies knowing that we live in an interdependent world, where cooperation is critical, and that ensuring this requires fairness and justice. Climate change is our biggest challenge yet as a human race and it is time we stood up to it.(Writer is Director General of CSE and editor of Down To Earth, an environmentalist who pushes for changes in policies, practices and mindsets)

Industrial Pollution

CAQM sets timelines for captive thermal power plants to phase out coal

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas has set timelines for captive thermal power plants (CTPPs) to phase out coal and replace it with co-firing biomass and straw pellets. Captive power plants provide localised sources of power typically to industrial facilities. In an order issued on Monday, CAQM directed CTPPs to initiate immediate steps to co-fire biomass-based pellets with coal through a continuous and uninterrupted supply chain targeting at least 5% co-firing of biomass pellets by September 30 and at least 10% co-firing by December 31 for effective utilisation of agricultural residue. The move is aimed at reducing their coal dependence. The CAQM clarified the order applied to CTPPs for which no restrictions existed until now. There is a separate timeline for NCR’s 11 coal-based thermal power plants. CAQM issued a comprehensive policy on air pollution in NCR in July last year under which the 11 plants were directed to meet their co-firing targets of 5% by September 30, 2022. They were to be co-firing 10% by the March end of this year. A Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) analysis on March 16 showed a majority of these power plants were unlikely to meet the deadline. “Until December 2022, the power plants under the ownership of [the] Haryana state government— the Rajiv Gandhi TPP, Yamuna Nagar TPP, and Panipat TPP – have invited both short-term and long-term tenders, but none of these tenders have been awarded. The Mahatma Gandhi TPP, Dadri TPP, and Indira Gandhi TPP are the only coal-based power plants in Delhi-NCR that have successfully placed long-term orders by December 2022,” the analysis said. It added the Panipat TPP, Mahatma Gandhi TPP, Nabha TPP, Ropar TPP, and Guru Hargobind TPP issued tenders for biomass pellet procurement, but they were of much less quantity than what was needed to meet the 5% threshold. Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air analyst Sunil Dahiya said the move sought to incentivise farmers and to ensure agricultural residue is not burnt. He added most power plants seemed to have missed the harvesting window for procurement. “On paper, we are reducing coal usage and utilising this agricultural residue which will cause less pollution overall...if the window to procure has been missed, then it will be very difficult to get these bio-pellets or residue now. We need to ensure that these thermal power plants procure residue when harvesting begins.”