Directions issued under Section 5 of EPA Act, 1986 for implementation of the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000
Based on the information received from State Pollution Control Boards/Committees, the estimated Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation in the country is 143499 MT/day and only 38771 MT/day of waste is processed/treated. Even after more than 14 years of notification of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000, the Municipal authorities have failed to comply with provisions of the rules. The cities are littered with the MSW due to poor collection mechanism. Field survey of cities and the dumping sites carried out by CPCB and other organizations indicates that: Most of the municipalities have not obtained authorization from SPCBs/PCCs as required under the MSW rules; The municipalities are still following unscientific disposal of MSW and the leachate generated from the dumpsites are having high potential threat to contaminate groundwater as well as surface water; Foul odour prevails at the MSW disposal sites. The slow and continuous ignition/burning of garbage is causing air pollution at the dumping/landfill sites; Most of the existing landfills/sites have been exhausted and still in operation as land for new sanitary landfills for processing and disposal of MSW has neither been identified nor available; and Most of the municipalities do not have action plan for management of MSW.