Breaking the mould

Atop Okhla landfill site, as MCD’s garbage trucks unload the filthy waste, throngs of waste-pickers on the ground and a kettle of kites from the sky would pounce, almost simultaneously, on the dumped thrash. They both understand the utility of that waste in feeding themselves and their families.

The tragedy is not that many of the older rag pickers have been sustaining their families through one of the most dangerous and despicable ways possible, for decades, but that they draw a blank when asked what keeps them clung to this profession! For the younger ones — as young as 8-year-old — it is a natural process of being wired into what is “meant for them”. The real rebels could be found among teens, though many of them have now submitted to the idea that there is no better workplace for them that could yield as much for their labour — a sum which they put at Rs 600-700 a day.

In this article, we shall draw a picture of what the life on landfills and in surrounding areas looks like, how viciously the life and livelihood of those living, feeding and working on landfills are intertwined with the massive structures. Besides assessing the viability and current status of Delhi government’s claim to flatten the three landfill sites in Delhi by 2024, we shall retrospect what it would mean for a generation of ragpickers.

The life on landfills

Shashank Kalra visits landfills across the country, treating them as pilgrimage sites — something which allows time for retrospection and self-transformation. That is exactly what landfills of Delhi do, but only for those who pay occasional visits.

For those going there daily to pick waste and make some money, it has been a workplace, a risky and life-degrading adventure that unfolds on a daily basis in a place equivalent to hell, if something by that name exists! At Bhalswa, Moidul, Akhtar, Zahid, Mushtaq, Zamil — all in their teens, all non-matriculate, and all soaked in filth and dust — share an innocent camaraderie. Zamil, the youngest in the group (13 years old), is the only one whose studies are continuing. Akhtar, considered to be the most educated and sensible, is curious to learn good things, and believes in ideals, but has his fate tied to the landfill.

Despite the life of adversity they live, their conversations are all fun and loaded with natural wit. Zahid, the most rowdy and hilarious, when asked why not some other hygienic work, gave a direct reply, “give us one, we’ll do”, firmly knowing that it was not coming. While all others prefer to work from morning to evening, Zahid would choose to work the night shift, tying a torch on his head to traverse the risky terrain. They all work under the unstated guardianship of a proudly humorous man in his late thirties who would spell numerous pseudonyms to hide his real name.

Eight-year-old Sudhir, talking in his innocent, soft tone without lifting his head up, would continue separating useful metals from his magnet-collected thrash, hoping to find a pair of gloves some day on the dumpsite that would keep him safe from blades. Sudhir’s parents are working on the other side of the landfill, and he has no idea where his native village is! Working beside him, two siblings, Sachin (15) and Sanjana (12), have one answer to each question — an impeccable laughter.

Buddhan Shah, after being tricked by an auto dealer in his native village near Sasaram, Bihar, tried his luck at several works in different mega cities. Now, he is at Bhalswa dumpsite, which provides a “guaranteed” livelihood. Still, he wants to escape it in the first chance he gets. Buddhan takes care that no one from his village should know what work he does. He also has a strong vow to keep — he will never let his children be exposed to such kind of work, no matter what it takes.

At Bhalswa, majority of the ragpickers — mostly Muslims — are from West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. At Okhla, they mostly hail from West Bengal and Assam, with a minuscule portion coming from Bihar. While acknowledging the problem of hygiene, most of them see rag picking as a work where there is enough freedom and “decent” money. However, 22-year-old Sohail (name changed on request), doesn’t like to work here. Unlike others, he can’t “eat in a stingy air where even breathing is a task in itself.” He, along with his about-to-turn-18 friend, will move back to Tamil Nadu once the “rage against north Indian migrants cools down”.

Buddhan Shah, who worked at Ghazipur dumpsite for some time before coming to Bhalswa, said “the condition there is worse than here (Bhalswa) because of the dumping of flesh from the adjoining fish and frozen meat market.”

There are thousands of ragpickers working, without any safety gears, parallelly to the companies that are awarded tenders to cut and flatten the landfills. The question is: shouldn’t the government have a plan to channelise their labour in a more fruitful way, while keeping them away from the life-threatening structures?

Averse to environment and economy

The dumpsites are a persistent source of emission of greenhouse gases. More threateningly, these are constant sources of methane, a gas which is 84 times more potent than the carbon dioxide.

Dumpsites also pollute the groundwater in a significant manner. Owing to vertical pressure of the waste load, a filthy and toxic black liquid keeps flowing from the bottom portions of the dumpsites. The liquid — known as leachate — if not treated properly could lead to high levels of chemical oxygen demand (COD) & Iron (Fe), apart from other toxic pollutants, in the groundwater.

Dumpsites are also a source of economic loss. As per a study conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and IIT-Delhi, the three landfills in Delhi inflict an economic damage of around Rs 450 crore — Rs 156 crore at Bhalswa, Rs 151 crore at Okhla and Rs 142.5 crore at Ghazipur.

Cumulatively, of course, the damages caused by the dumpsites have been much beyond what could be measured in monetary terms.

Tall claims vs reality

Delhi’s Finance Minister Kailash Gahlot, while presenting this year’s budget, reaffirmed that the “government targets the removal of all three mountains of garbage in Delhi in just two years. Okhla landfill (is) to be removed by December 2023, Bhalswa landfill by March 2024, and Ghazipur landfill by December 2024.” He further added that “Rs 850 crore loan will be given to the MCD for removal of mountains of garbage.”

However, in a review meeting involving Kejriwal and civic officials last week, it was noted that the target of processing 10,000 tonnes of waste per day at Okhla dumpsite was not on track. The CM sternly asked the officials to come up with a plan in 15 days. Meanwhile, The Hindu has quoted a senior civic official saying that MCD is unlikely to clear the Okhla Sanitary Landfill by the end of this year.

Delhi generates around 11,300 tonnes of waste each day, out of which only 8,170 tonnes is processed at WTE and other facilities. In addition to the waste generated on a daily basis, Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur dumpsites hold 42 lakh tonnes, 71 lakh tonnes and 78 lakh tonnes of legacy waste, respectively. Just like the processing of daily MSW, the treatment of legacy waste, too, is proceeding at a sluggish pace.

As per DPCC’s annual report for 2021-22, the Timarpur Okhla Waste management Company Ltd. had a waste processing capacity of 1,950 TPD (tonnes per day) and generated 23 MW of energy. East Delhi Waste Processing Company Ltd. in Ghazipur had the waste processing capacity of 1,300 TPD and generated 12 MW of electricity. The corresponding figures for Delhi MSW Solutions Ltd. on Narela-Bawana Road were 1,300 TPD and 24 MW. The cumulative waste-processing capacity of the three WTE plants was 4,550 TPD. In addition, the fourth WTE plant was inaugurated in October last year at Tehkhand — with a waste processing capacity of 2,000 TPD, generating 25 MW of electricity.

Proposals are underway to build more WTE plants and engineered Sanitary Landfills, and to expand the capacity of the existing WTE plants. Experts, however, emphasise on more efficient alternatives/complements to tackle the dumpsite menace.

Innovation as the key

Conventionally, there have been two main scientific routes to reclaim land from the landfills — capping of the legacy waste, and the combination of biomining and bioremediation. Capping refers to closing of the garbage material using soil and other components. Biomining refers to extraction of useful metals and other solid components through decomposition of biodegradable waste under the action of microorganisms, air and sunlight. Bioremediation refers to decomposition, excavation and segregation of legacy waste to single out refuse-derived fuel (RDF) — a category of solid waste with high calorific value, which can act as fuel for a variety of purposes. Inert and recyclable wastes are also separated in the process.

In July 2019, the National Green Tribunal adjudicated that capping of legacy waste may lead to grave environmental and health consequences in the Indian context, thus leaving biomining and bioremediation as the most preferable methods of dumpsite remediation.

Source segregation of waste

To fulfil Delhi government’s objective of removing “all three mountains of garbage in just two years”, the focus has primarily been on bioremediation of legacy waste. Richa Singh, a domain expert at CSE, pointed out that “about 50 per cent of the total waste generated in the country is disposed of in the dumpsites without any treatment. It is practically impossible to remediate the legacy waste dumpsites if the city keeps adding new waste daily.”

This is indeed a major lacuna. The Bhalswa dumpsite is bi-compartmentalised in two segments. While the work of bioremediation of legacy waste is proceeding with an “impressive” pace on the larger segment, MCD trucks keep dumping new waste on the adjacent, relatively smaller segment. Ragpickers working there for decades are convinced that by the time the larger segment is dealt with, the smaller one will acquire a humongous size.

Richa Singh proposes a seemingly simple and meaningful solution to break this vicious cycle. She highlights the imperative of source segregation of waste, saying that “this is non-negotiable and the success of any waste treatment technology depends on the quality of feedstock (waste)”. Notably, the composition of waste at a dumpsite affects the efficiency and viability of the bioremediation process at the site.

Strictly cautioning against the occupational hazards that waste pickers may face while working on dumpsites, Singh suggests that “the informal sector (waste pickers) can be employed in door-to-door collection of waste from the households and sorting and segregation of the dry fraction of municipal waste. There are various models in the country such as SWaCH in Pune where the waste pickers’ cooperative is responsible for collecting and segregating the waste from the households. The cooperative is completely owned by its waste picker members. An agreement between Pune Municipal Corporation and SWaCH was formulated for decentralised waste management in Pune. Today, around 3,700 waste pickers are a part of SWaCH, covering over 9.5 lakh properties and diverting huge quantities of waste from reaching the landfills. Similar models can be adopted in other cities as well.”

Biogas plants — a potential gamechanger

Furthermore, in a recent letter written to the Delhi government, the Indian Biogas Association (IBA) proposed that “biogas plants can be set up under the PPP model and the government can invite interested entrepreneurs to set up biogas plants at landfill sites.” The Delhi government should respond proactively to this precious suggestion.

As per IBA, setting up of a biogas plant at each entry point of landfills will not only reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, but also make savings of Rs 750 crore by cost-effectively using the resources and generating biogas and organic fertilizer.

Experts have been emphasising on this strategy for quite a long time. Richa Singh believes that “50 to 60 per cent of the MSW generated in the country is wet biodegradable waste; converting that into bio-compressed natural gas (CNG) can be a game-changer.”

The success story of Indore bears testimony to her conviction. Singh illustrates: “Indore in Madhya Pradesh has installed a bio-CNG plant and produces 17,000 kilograms of CNG every day by treating 550 tonnes of biodegradable/wet waste. Reportedly, they are earning more than Rs 50 crore from bio-CNG and carbon credits as revenue.”

The government has to turn its focus towards innovation and technology to fulfil its commitment of clearing the dumpsites. It is a fact that the pace of bioremediation and biomining has been “sluggish”. At the same time, an ever-increasing quantum of new waste is being dumped at the landfills — leaving us with a circle without ends. Even if through extraordinary efforts, and at a huge financial cost, the government manages to reclaim large swathes of land through conventional practices, one is curious to ask, why not achieve the same outcomes innovatively, at lower expenses!

Bhanpur Khanti: Notoriety to fame

Six years back, when the train passengers passing through Madhya Pradesh would pinch their nose shut, it would infamously mean that Bhopal station was about to arrive. The foul smell would

come from the 37-acre Bhanpur Khanti dumpsite. But today, there are no traces of that pungent identifier because, through efficient micro-planning and some back-breaking endeavour, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation managed to eliminate the dumpsite from the map of the city!

The almost five-decade old dumpsite had 7.5 lakh tonnes of legacy waste while the city still generated 800 tonnes of waste on a daily basis. Firm in its resolve, in 2018, the BMC planned the minutest details to rid the city of this notoriety. It used a hybrid method of dumpsite remediation — garbage from 21 acres of land would undergo biomining and the rest 16 acres would be bio capped. The capped portion was topped with a geo-membrane and a grass layer. A proper gas collection system was put in place along with a leachate treatment plant with a capacity of 50 kilolitre per day (KLD).

The waste segregated after biomining at the 21-acre land was diverted to recycling plants (recyclable waste), waste-to-energy plants (RDF) and construction sites (inert waste). In three years, the 21-acre land was reclaimed and generated Rs 380 crore in revenue for the municipal body, which is much higher than the cost incurred on remediation — 42 crores. The remaining 16 acre of land has been converted into a green park.

What the BMC did after the completion of the remediation process is even more inspiring. A mechanism for four-way source segregation — wet, dry, sanitary and domestic hazardous — of waste was institutionalised, and a sanitary landfill at the outskirts of Adampur was engineered. Today, Bhopal is counted among the cleanest cities of India with a robust waste disposal mechanism.

Bhopal is, however, just one example.

Views expressed are personal