The residents of affluent colonies in east Delhi discard nearly double the trash than their counterparts in unauthorized colonies, according to a new survey conducted by the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) in two neighbourhoods.
The survey was conducted on the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in order to find out the per capita waste generation from both planned and unplanned residential colonies of NGT.
Complying with the tribunal’s direction, EDMC had selected two residential colonies in East Delhi- Mayur Vihar Phase 1 (Pocket 4), a planned residential colony, and Rajvir Nagar, an unauthorised colony. The civic agency selected as many as 200 homes from each of these colonies and engaged a city-based private agency to prepare a study report.
As per the report, in Mayur Vihar Phase 1 (Pocket 4) on average, one person generates nearly 399 gram waste per day, against 197 gram per day by a person in Rajvir Nagar. Surprisingly, four people were selected from each home in Mayur Vihar Phase 1 against five in Rajvir Nagar.
Pradeep Khandelwal, chief engineer (EDMC), said, “The purpose of this study was to find out per capita waste generation as well as quality and quantity of waste generated from two different neighbourhoods with different infrastructures and lifestyles. It would help us in making plans for waste disposal in various colonies.”
Selected households were requested to hand over daily generated waste from their homes to municipal staff for a week. The municipal staff then took out samples from the collected waste for a week to segregate the waste components in five categories- recyclable, organic waste, combustible, inert and others.
The report also suggested that quality of waste generated from two separate neighbourhoods was dependent on people’s lifestyle.
Rajesh Kumar, associate consultant in DESL, a private agency engaged by EDMC for the survey, told City Spidey that the quality of waste collected from both the colonies was different.
Kumar said, “Quality of waste generated from two different colonies was dependent on their residents’ lifestyle and purchasing power. Purchasing power of Mayur Vihar residents is much higher than people residing in Rajvir Nagar.
The recyclable fraction in mixed waste collected from both the colonies were 1.77 percent and 1.8 percent in Rajvir Nagar and Mayur Vihar Phase 1 (pocket 4) respectively. Similarly, organic fraction in municipal solid waste (MSW) for both the colonies was almost similar.
The combustible fraction in waste collected from Rajvir Nagar was found to be 23.289 percent while it was 28.31 percent in Mayur Vihar, which also shows minimal variation.
The report suggested that due to lifestyle and infrastructure variation, there was huge difference in the amount of inert generated in in both the colonies. The ‘inert’ is the waste that can’t be used for any purpose even after treatment. It usually includes sweeping dust, silt, ash and fine pieces of broken glass.
There was less inert (1.84 percent) in Mayur Vihar as compared to 7.76 percent in Rajvir Nagar. In unauthorised colonies, houses or roads are not constructed properly that’s why generation of inert remains high.
Of the total waste generated by a Mayur Vihar resident, 28.31% was packaging discards comprising foils, cartons and multi-layered wrappers and food packets. In Rajvir Colony, this component of waste was 23.29%.
