We Indians have accepted the phenomenon of garbage spilling over from municipal dustbins at street corners and often even strewn around in open public spaces. We have become so used to it, that it seems inevitable. No one is ready to take this as a challenge but instead, hope that some day; someone will find a solution to our problem and rid us of this major health hazard of urban living in India.
But the integrated solid waste management project in Kanpur offers hope. Kanpur which is Located on the western bank of the Ganga, is an important industrial city of Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India. Kanpur which is a thickly populated city is also the home of textiles, leather, fertilisers and arms manufacturing. Each of these manufacturing sections has got the capacity to produce maximum pollution.
Until a few years ago, the condition of the solid waste management in Kanpur was almost the same as most other Indian cities. The responsibility of collecting, transporting and disposing of the solid waste generated in the city was under Kanpur Nagar Nigam (KNN). About 1500 tonnes of waste was generated in the city per day. Most of the collection centres in the city were open dumps. There was an authorised site a few kilometres away from the city were these wastes were to be dumped. It was done at an annual cost of Rs.42 crores. Scientific disposal of the garbage was not even considered. Grants from the state finance commission were looked forward for the collection and transportation activity. Recyclable waste from the waste chain was removed by a community of rag-pickers.
The Municipal Solid Waste Management and Handling, which is actually the responsibility of the states was nudged by the Supreme Court so that the governments acted in this area. The need to improve public service delivery in urban areas in general and solid waste management in particular, and providing funds to support such activities, was launched by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), under the Government of India in 2005. The public-private partnership in transforming the system of solid waste management in the city was thought to be experimented by the KNN and the state government of Uttar Pradesh. They worked together on it seizing the above mentioned opportunity.
In order to process and dispose the waste, KNN gave a BOOT (build, own, operate, transfer) contract to A2Z Infrastructure, a private company in 2008. For the project 46 acres of land was given free on a long lease of 30 years. The plant was set up with a tipping platform, a pre-segregation unit, a composting unit, an RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) unit, a plastic segregating unit, a briquette manufacturing unit, and a secured landfill in place. This plant had the capacity to process 1500 tonnes of solid waste per day. The total project cost was Rs.110 crores. But Rs.56.6 crores was provided by JNNURM and the rest from the private partner. The same company was given the contract to collect and transport waste. Thus the collection and transportation activities were integrated with waste processing and its scientific disposal, with possibilities for revenue generation.
Now door-to-door collection of garbage is being done in bins attached to rickshaws by workers using hand gloves and protective masks. The garbage is then dumped into refuse compactor trucks that may have the capacity to load 40 to 50 bins of waste. Since compression of garbage is done while being transported, more waste can be accommodated in the vehicle. Every incidence of the compactor halt to collect garbage is monitored and recorded because each of these transport vehicles is equipped with GPS. Thus the scope for deception and fuel theft is discouraged.
A monthly user charge has also been set by KNN for houses, industries and urban poor. This is being collected by A2Z on behalf of KNN, and the monthly collection at present is Rs.0.75 crores. There was no charge in the first three months to sensitise people to the benefits of door-to-door collection. This method has given employment opportunities for many people.
The garbage is then taken to a central site where it is sorted, segregated, transformed into a number of products of value. Only less than 2% of waste remains to be deposited in the landfill, after selling off the recyclable materials. Since the waste is reused the landfills which were expected to fill within seven years would take much more time to get filled. About 50 per cent of the waste collected from Kanpur is biodegradable, thus changing Kanpur Waste Management Plant into the largest producer of compost from organic waste. The quality of the compost is also being improved by scientific inputs. Premium quality organic fertiliser is sold through various fertiliser marketing companies and also directly under their own brand "Vasundhara". At present the plant is not able to meet the growing demand for organic fertiliser.
Rs.110 crores was invested by A2Z Infrastructure, in 2010 to set up a waste-to-energy plant. Thus it became the largest integrated project in solid waste management in Asia. Thus the company was able to exploit the synergies between collection, processing and disposal through this power plant. Using the RDF produced in houses, this plant produces 15 MW of electricity. It makes use of the CFBC (Circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion) technology, which is an advanced fuel combustion technology from Germany. A fuel made from garbage at low temperatures named the RDF is burned in these boilers. This is to ensure that the plant does not emit any oxide of nitrogen or sulphur, nor dioxins and furans. The CFBC technology was initially used here in India.
Now it is hard to find any garbage on the streets of Kanpur. The earlier garbage collection centres in Shastri Nagar and near M.G. College, civil lines, have now been converted into parks with the help of the local community. One of the largest open temporary dumpsite has now been converted to a park and also a public space for expression of art.
The Kanpur project has been recognised for its significant achievements. Kanpur has now become one of the best cities for the management of solid waste. The Kanpur Nagar Nigam received the JNNURM award in 2011. Kanpur has set an example on solid waste for all.
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