SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN BHILWARA CITY, RAJASTHAN

Abstract

Solid wastes are all the wastes arising from human and animal activities that are normally solid and are discarded. There has been a significant increase in solid waste generation in India in the last few decades. This trend can be ascribed to the changing lifestyles, food habits, and change in the living standards. Bhilwara the Cloth City is the fastest growing urban centre with an unprecedented rise in the population. Solid waste management is one among the essential services, which suffers the most in this city. The city produces 150 MT of solid waste per day with per capita generation as high as 200 gms/day. The lack of solid waste management & planning is degrading the quality of river Kothari with the location of dumping site close to it. There are various types of solid wastes generated in Bhilwara city, which are municipal waste generated mostly from residential and commercial areas, bio-medical waste from all health care centers, industrial waste, and waste generated from religious activities, which is a peculiar type of waste generated here. Solid waste management has become a major environmental issue in this city with the municipality as the sale authority responsible for it. With the burgeoning population and indifferent civic services coupled with wasteful consumerism and general apathy for cleanliness, the symptoms of strain on the environment and on the living conditions are conspicuously evident in many areas of the city. The city needs a change in the existing management practices keeping in view the diverse characteristics of waste and complex mechanism involved in the processes of management to enable the authority responsible to run this service efficiently in order to have an effective and sustainable waste management system.