Prof. S.K. Ananda Thirtha, member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes
Garbage is now being collected door-to-door in Mysore city under Nirmala Nagara programme. Garbage collection has been privatized in many areas of the city and the workers appointed by garbage contractors come in three-wheelers every morning and collect the garbage from every household. Street-side garbage bins which were overflowing with unsightly garbage and were the feeding troughs for street animals such as pigs, cattle and dogs, are being phased out. If the garbage management programme succeeds, it will be a big step for Mysore in its effort to regain lost glory.
But most people do not realize that this programme is not the brainwave of any government or any official, but is the direct consequence of the pressure being applied by the Supreme Court on municipal bodies. Dr. Almitra H. Patel and another resident of Bangalore had filed a petition before the Supreme Court (W.P. (Civil) No. 888/1996) in 1996 pleading that municipal bodies in India were not properly performing their statutory duty of garbage collection and garbage management and as a consequence, the citizens were suffering. The petitioners had asked the Supreme Court to issue emergency orders to all municipal bodies and state and central governments to improve garbage collection and management. After hearing their arguments, the Supreme Court issued an order in January, 1998. In this order, it set up an expert committee which included Dr. Almitra Patel and was chaired by Ashim Burman, the then Commissioner of Calcutta City Corporation. This committee was asked to go into all aspects of municipal garbage masnagement and give a comprehensive report in six months. After a few delays, the committee finally gave its report in May, 1999. On the basis of this report, the Supreme Court issued another order in August, 1999 taking to task central and state governments for their lack of effort in managing urban garbage. As a result of this pressure from the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Environment and Forests of the central government brought into force the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 from 25-09-2001.
But no municipality in the country followed these rules. So Dr. Almitra Patel filed another petition before the Supreme Court (SLP(C) No. 22111/2003). When the Supreme Court took it up for hearing on 4-10-04, it expressed great irritation with local, state and central governments. It dismissed pleas of lack of funds. It pointed out that Suryapet in Andhra Pradesh and Namakkal in Tamil Nadu, despite any funding either from state government or central government had strictly obeyed the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules through good management and will power to become zero garbage towns and ordered all other cities to study their example and follow their footsteps.
It is only because the Supreme Court is applying such relentless pressure on municipalities that they are now paying attention to solid waste management and are trying to become zero garbage cities.
What have Suryapet and Namakkal done to merit such appreciation from the Supreme Court?
Suryapet is a town of roughly 1 lakh population, located about 100 km east of Hyderabad. Before 2003, it was like any other town, with garbage strewn all over its streets and hordes of pigs, cattle and dogs wallowing in it. When S.A. Khader Sab came as the Commissioner of Suryapet in January 2003, he immediately set out to make it a garbage-free city. Door-to-door collection of garbage began. About 360 garbage bins which dotted the streets of Suryapet were removed one by one and in fifteen months, there was no streetside garbage bin in town. When Khader Sab was the Commissioner of Mandapet in 1999-2000, he had started a similar programme there. and so he had some experience in the field. Based on that experience, he discussed the programme in detail with municipal councillors, women's groups and the general public. With a lot of encouragement, they all became actively involved in cleaning up Suryapet. In the beginning, garbage was being collected without segragation, but in August, 2003, each household was given two plastic containers, the green one to store wet garbage and the red one to store dry garbage. The cost of these containers was raised from industries, service organizatiosn and other donors. People who littered the streets were fined Rs. 100 and their names announced on loudspeakers. With these steps, street garbage completely disappeared from Suryapet. Now, segregated garbage is processed and sold. The minicipality is earning Rs. 20,000 every month from its processed garbage. It hopes to increase the monthly income to Rs. 450,000 soon.
In a similar manner, Namakkal (population: 50,000), which is 60 km south of Salem in Tamil Nadu has taken to garbage management aggressively since 2003 under the stewardship of its Commissioner, P. Kanthasamy. It can boast of being the first zero garbage town of India.
Suryapet and Namakkal have demonstrated that to make cities clean and beautiful, lots of money is not needed, but only good management and the will to succeed
(Information assistance: Prof. V. Jagannath).