By Bharti Patel With rapid urbanisation, India is all set to witness a four to five fold rise in waste generation in the coming years. A little known Conservative councillor, representing a ward in London, UK, named Lucy Ivimy, recently provoked a debate in the media and among general citizens in India and abroad who were outraged at the racial slur made on Indian immigrants in the UK. Increased levels of litter in a particular area was blamed on Indian immigrants and she alleged that "disregard for the cleanliness of a public area is normal behaviour' in India. Remarks by the British councillor aside, there can be no doubt in anyone's mind that we need to change our behaviour and practice, in the way we dump our daily waste, with all its associated environmental impact, economic and social implications. India generates 1.2 million tonnes of solid waste, 4.4 million tonnes of hazardous waste and 4.45 million tonnes of plastic waste everyday and given the limited capacities in the country for safe disposal, our waste is dumped on our doorstep, on roads, pavements, railway tracks, tanks and drains. One is witness on a daily basis, to the sight of children playing on heaps of rubbish and animals eating rotting organic matter and plastic bags. And yet, we continue to deny to ourselves, that we carry the responsibility for environmental degradation and the health of our nation's natural resources. With rapid urbanisation, rise in population and changing consumer patterns, India is all set to witness a four to five fold rise in waste generation in the coming years. The Indian government has a policy and legislation, to collect waste and recycle, but the practices are often inconsistent and incomplete. Some waste is diverted for composting; some for resale, but much of it is left decomposing on the roadside. Over 3.5 lakh cleaners start their work in the small hours of the morning, cleaning our cities and towns. But no sooner have they cleaned the streets, they are piled with rubbish again. Rats, cockroaches, maggots and mosquitoes are a daily nuisance despite the efforts of our daily street cleaners. The Guidelines for Waste Management under the Municipality Solid Waste Management (MSW) quotes a constitutional obligation of each citizen under Article 51A (g) to protect the environment. In Doddaballapur, a peri urban town of 70,000 households (30 km from Bangalore) our experience shows that despite indifference by authorities to the problem of waste, there is enthusiasm from Sthree Shakti groups (SHGs) for a cleaner town. Limited or lack of support from municipalities as well as citizens is affecting success of such small local initiatives. There is a need to bring such initiatives into the larger public arena and to provide incentives to community waste management initiatives as well, to encourage a drastic reduction in waste generation. I do not believe, that we cannot be aware of the dangers of waste polluting our environment. But I do believe we have become desensitised to these ugly sights, as they have become part of the city chaos. The question is how we can motivate ourselves to reduce the waste and recycle more. For a start,we can begin by segregating our waste into bio-degradable and non bio-degradable and convert the bio-degradable to the much needed compost, which can be used in our cities or apartment gardens. Around 80-90 per cent of India's household waste is a valuable organic resource, for example fruit and vegetable peels, tea leaves, etc which can be composted. Composting provides economic, as well as environmental opportunities. A market is already being developed for natural compost, to help revive our soil which has been depleted of nutrients, owing to the excessive use of chemical fertilisers. We need the government to work with communities and the NGO sector for a collective agenda for reduction and adequate disposal of our waste, rather than the corporatisation of waste management. According to statistics India's 35 largest cities alone can provide 5.7 million tonnes of organic manure per year, if their bio-degradable waste is composted and returned to the soil. The garbage problem in India, can be ignored only for a limited time. The manner in which we dispose our waste now is a matter of necessity. Not just for aesthetic reasons, but for health as well as ecological reasons.