WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SLUMS

1
WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SLUMS

• Almitra H Patel
• Member, Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste
  Management in
• Class 1 Cities in India
• almitrapatel_at_rediffmail.com

2
WASTE COLLECTION IS EASIEST IN SLUMS

• Slum dwellers are always the most neglected
  sector for waste collection.
• They desire and understand the need for a clean
  environment and the costs of ill health.
• They are the most willing to cooperate in
  improved waste management efforts.

3
SLUM DWELLERS ARE THE MOST WILLING TO PAY FOR
WASTE MANAGEMENT

• Despite having lower incomes
• than other areas, collection is
• most forthcoming and easiest
• to collect in slums.

4
FIVE EASY PROVEN METHODS FOR WASTE COLLECTION AND
TREATMENT

• 1, Lorry at the slum entrance
• 2, Door-to-door collection in handcarts
• 3, Take-away bins in narrow lanes
• 4, Shared bio-bins
• 5, Community bio-bins

5
LORRY AT SLUM ENTRANCE

• Slum lanes are usually kept clean, but waste
  usually lies uncollected in large heaps just
  outside the slum entrance.
• It takes a lorry 15-20 minutes to load this.
• Instead, a lorry waits at slum entrance at a
  fixed time, while helper moves through slum with
  whistle to announce its arrival.
• Slum-dwellers come to lorry with their waste.
• Lorry pickup time and frequency unchanged.
• So no extra payment is required.

6
DOOR-TO-DOOR COLLECTION IN HANDCARTS

• This is done in Calcuttas upgraded slums where
  lanes are paved and wide enough for movement.
• Waste is collected in the usual way in hand-carts
  at a fixed time of day.
• No payment is required as this replaces earlier
  lane-sweeping practices.

7
TAKE-AWAY BINS IN NARROW LANES-1

• In Mumbai, slum assns appoint youths for
• cleaning work, before going to college or jobs.
• First a mass clean-up drive is undertaken.
• Then the new system is immediately started.
• 7-8am narrow open drains are swept clean.
• 8am 50-litre bins given by city are placed at
  path crossings, one per 25 homes or so.

8
TAKE-AWAY BINS IN NARROW LANES-2

• 8-10 am waste is carried from each home to
  nearest bin at residents convenience.
• 10-11 am All bins are removed and unloaded
  directly into waiting truck outside slum, and
  stacked till next day.
• Citys cooperation in regular and punctual
• presence of lorry at 10-11am is vital !!
• Residents willingly pay Re 1 per head or Rs 5 per
  family. More for shops outside the slum.

9
SHARED BIO-BINS DHAKA MODEL

• Waste Concern NGO provides 5-6 families a
  perforated barrel on a raised base, with compost
  layer at bottom as a starter bed.
• Residents must fill only kitchen waste daily in
  layers not more than 50mm, for mulch-composting
  in the barrel.
• NGO buys the ready compost when barrel is full
  after 3 months or so.
• Demand is good and cooperation too, as residents
  see their waste as valuable.

10
COMMUNITY BIO-BINS - 1

• This bio-bin replaced a dirty
• overflowing waste container.
• It serves 125 families at
• Diamond Gdn Chembur, who
• pay for the program.
• Segregated waste is
• loaded daily by door-to-
• door collectors, bioculture
• is added waste is turned.

11
COMMUNITY BIO-BINS - 2

• After 15 days, a similar
• bio-bin is used while
• the compost in 1st bin
• matures in 15 more days.
• Compost is not sold but
• used in flowerbeds for
• street beautification.
• 3 get employed, for an hour
• a day for dtdoor collection,
• street and drain cleaning,
• gardening composting

12
COMMUNITY BIO-BINS - 3

• 140 such bio-bins are in use at Kochi on
  Rupee-A-Day scheme, in good demand for
  cleanliness in middle-income areas.
• Residents groups pay for installation of
  bio-bins. Kudumbashree womens self-help groups
  collect waste door-to-door, put kitchen waste in
  bio-bin, add culture and turn it. Sale of
  compost adds to their income. Being tried in
  slums now.