Mysuru: Rivers have become dumping yards to throw the wastes due to which most of them including Ganga, Krishna, Narmada, Godavari and Cauvery are polluted and losing their life, said former chairman of Karnataka Pollution Control Board B Shivalingaiah.
Speaking during a conference on “Industrial Waste Management” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Department of Industries and Commerce and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board here on August 23, he said, “People are using water as a channel to dispose unwanted materials. Due to the consequent pollution, the life of rivers is going down and some are on the verge of dying. Right from Hydrosphere, just 3 percent of water is usable water while the rest 97 percent of water is of no use.” He also mentioned that to lessen waste, Japan was also planning to ban one time use of materials including drinking water bottles.
Arjun Ranga, Chairman, CII said, “If we stick to our current waste management practices, by 2047 India will require a land of 1400 km which is equivalent to the size of Delhi. India’s urban population is currently at 32.8 percent that is 440 million which is predicted to go upto 590 million by 2030. An estimated 55 million tons of solid waste and approximately 6000 million cubic meters of liquid waste are generated annually in urban areas of India, which is increasing at the rate of 1-1.5 percent per annum. The quantum of industrial waste generation is also on a higher side. More than 8 million tons per annum is India’s present hazardous waste generation. Maharashtra (22.84%), Gujarat (22.68%) and Telangana and Andhra Pradesh put together (13.75%) are leading states in the country in hazardous waste generation, followed by Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Just these seven states, contribute to nearly 82 percent of the hazardous waste generated in the country. The current e-waste generation pattern is 1.7 million tons per annum, with an alarming growth rate of 15 percent each year. The major concern in terms of management of e-waste is, more than 90 percent of the available stuff continues to be recycled in the informal sector, in the by-lanes of cities and towns. However, if recycled scientifically, 95-98 percent of the materials can be recovered and put back in the process of material flow. The business potential for e-waste is estimated at about Rs 700 Crore”, added Arjun Ranga.
B M Prakash, Environmental Officer, KSPCB, Mysuru who also spoke on the occasion said, “In 2009, CII along with Pollution Control Board had undertaken some work on waste management in Nanjangud Industrial Area. During that time, we have assessed in NIA how the waste generated is being reutilised and how much is going to landfill. The order of the day is industries are not showcasing their efforts. There are lot of things which are changed. Lot of industries have very good technology wherein they use, recycle and also achieve zero discharge. They have these things in their respective websites but information is not made available to public. They should make use of good platforms including events like Dasara and industrial events to showcase the latest developments and initiatives taken up in waste management.”
“The growing urbanisation and pursuit for faster economic development, particularly in growing economies are leading to unprecedented growth in all kind of wastes- municipal including e-waste and industrial hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. The cities in developing economies have also been witnessing a growing amount of sewage, a large portion of which is discharged untreated in water bodies and this is the largest source of their pollution. While the countries in Europe and countries like Japan in Asia have been successful in maximising resource recovering and waste recycling thus diverting waste from landfills, the cities in developing economies have been still struggling with source segregation of waste and setting up material recovery and waste recycling facilities and most of the waste is still reaching the land sites. Today the total amount of waste generated annually worldwide is more than 4 billion tonnes-the municipal solid waste is between 1.6 to 2.0 billion tonnes. Waste recycling is one of the most important sectors in terms of employment creation and currently employs 12 million people in just three countries Brazil, China and the US.”
