AGARTALA: Experts sounded an alarm for northeastern states urging them to re-model the municipal solid waste management strategies and also asked them to step up door-to-door collection, segregation and treatment of garbage to get benefits from Swachh Bharat Mission Urban [SBM(U)] 2.0 in making all cities garbage-free.
The experts from Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment were addressing mediapersons from across the northeast region during a virtual sensitisation programme on Saturday. They estimated that the northeast region has the potential to generate an annual revenue of Rs 812 crore — Rs 237 crore from compost, Rs 573 crore by selling recyclable dry waste and Rs 1.68 crore from user charges. The CSE head of the municipal solid waste team, Atin Biswas, said a number of states in the region do not have elected urban local bodies that deprive them of the finance commission grant, which leads to economic constraint for the authorities spending money for solid waste management.
“The region generates 3,115.45 MT municipal solid waste per day and over 20% of it was left uncollected, which are either littered or dumped taking advantage of the terrain. Only 34% of the collected waste in the region goes for processing, and the rest are dumped in the landfills,” he said. He added that the urban local bodies in the region perceived solid waste management to be a service and not a source of revenue generation.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, Mizoram topped in the region by processing over 88% of solid waste collected daily, followed by Tripura that treats about 66% of its collected waste. The figure in Assam is the lowest as it treats only 4.5% of its total daily collection, Meghalaya 8.08%, Nagaland 9.37% and Sikkim 16.83%.
