WASTE MANAGEMENT

Solid Waste Management in the city of Asansol

Submitted to:
Mr. Venkata Krishna Kumar S
Associate Professor of Architecture

School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada

Submitted by:

Soumendra Roy
II Sem. M.Arch (Sustainable Architecture), Regn. No. 1150500028

In partial requirement for fulfillment of the course of Master of Architecture

Submitted on: 22 FEBRUARY 2016

SCHOOL OF PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE, VIJAYAWADA

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To study the solid waste management systems in the city of Asansol in

West Bengal
Soumendra Roy
Student (Master of Architecture)
School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada,
Andhra Pradesh, India
Email: soumendraroy.48@gmail.com

1.

Introduction
Solid Waste Management is one of the essential obligatory functions of the Urban Local Bodies in
India. This service is falling too short of the desired level of efficiency and satisfaction resulting in
problems of health, sanitation and environmental degradation. Most urban areas in the country are
plagued by acute problems related to solid waste. Due to lack of serious efforts by town/city
authorities, garbage and its management has become a tenacious problem and this notwithstanding
the fact that the largest part of municipal expenditure is allotted to it. Barring a few progressive
municipal corporations in the country, most local bodies suffer due to non-availability of adequate
expertise and experience, thereby the solid waste is not properly handled resulting into creation of
environmental pollution and health hazards. (MUD 2000)

2. Study area
Situated in the Damodar River valley, the city has evolved and
expanded over time to a population of one million, ranking it
23rd in India. It is located about 200 km from Kolkata. Asansol
is the 42nd Fastest growing city in the world and 10th in the
India (City Mayors 2010). Geographically it is located at 23.03
degrees 40 minutes 25 seconds North and 86 degrees 56
minutes 45 seconds East. The total area of AMC is 127.24
sq.km with a generally flat and north to south sloping
topography. It has an average elevation of 110-130 meters from
mean sea level. The city's economy is based on the coal and
steel industries.

Figure 1: Location of Asansol

3. Types of solid waste generated in Asansol Municipal Corporation

3.1 Ashes and residues: Materials remaining from the burning of wood ,coal, coke and other

inflammable wastes in institutions, homes, stores, industrials and municipal facilities for the
purpose of heating and cooking and above all the remains of combustible wastes are
categorized as ashes and residues. These materials are generally composed of fine powdery
materials, cinders, and small amounts of burned and partially burned materials.
3.2 Rubbish: This comprises of various kind of flammable and inflammable materials of
households, institutions of commercial activities etc. The combustible rubbish includes the
materials such as paper, cardboard, furniture parts, textiles, rubber, leather wood etc. Noncombustible rubbish consists of glass, broken crockery, plastic, discarded tins, aluminum cans
and materials made of ferrous and non-ferrous materials.

3.3 Demolition and construction waste: Waste from demolished buildings and other structures

3.4

3.5

3.6
3.7

are classified as demolition waste. Waste from the construction , remodeling and repairing of
individual residences, housing complexes, multi storied flats, commercial buildings etc are
classified as construction wastes which includes stones, concrete , bricks, plaster etc.
Industrial process wastes: It consists of the solid and semi-solid wastes coming from
industrial plants. The specific characteristics of these wastes vary depending on the nature of
the manufacturing process.
Municipal wastes: Wastes such as street sweeping materials, roadside litter, litter from
municipal dustbins, dead animals and abandoned vehicles. Municipal waste includes rubbish,
trash and almost all types of waste.
Food waste: Food wastes are the residues of various kinds of foods like fruit, vegetable,
animal product resulting from handling, preparation and eating of foods.
Other waste: Besides the above mention types of wastes there are found much kind of
biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes coming from different sources like hospital,
market, pathological lab etc. The biodegradable waste consists of all carbonaceous wastes and
non-biodegradable waste includes inorganic wastes and non-degradable polymeric organics
like certain types of plastics.

4. Sources of solid waste generated in Asansol

4.1 Waste from residential areas: The waste generated from residential areas is generally named

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5
4.6

5.

as domestic waste. This kind of waste varies a lot based on the socio-economic conditions and
cultural situations. In developed residential areas where gas or electricity is used for cooking,
the waste generated will be less compared to the low-income residential areas where wood or
charcoal is used as fuel. Paper, cardboard, tin and bottles are found to be more in prosperous
settlements and in commercial areas.
Waste from shops/vegetable/ fruit market: The wastes generated from the shops, vegetable
and fruit market consists of polythene, paper, dried plantain leaves etc. Most of the wastes
coming from shops and vegetable or fruit market are degradable in nature which is used for
wrapping agricultural goods.
Waste from hospital/ nursing home/medical stores: Hospital, nursing homes and medical
stores have a great contribution on solid waste generation at AMC. Different kind of solid
wastes like unused medicine, saline bottles, medicine cover are generated some of which are
non-degradable.
Waste from Hotels/Restaurants/Eating stalls: Hotels and Restaurants generate both
degradable and non-degradable waste. The domestic type waste generated will be large in
quantity and hence to be removed daily. They can be provided with separate bins for waste
collection.
Waste generated by street hawkers: Street food vendors and hawkers generate large
quantities of waste particularly food waste and plastic paper plates.
Waste from Slaughter Houses/ Fish markets: Slaughterhouses and fish markets generate
highly putrescible matter. They decay very fast and are the main reason for the malodors near
these premises. No paper collection or removal is practiced and hence the waste rots in the
premises itself.

Status of solid waste management system in Asansol

Asansol is one of the first growing cities of West Bengal. At present Asansol Municipal
Corporation consists of 50 wards and a population of 563917 (ADDA 2015). During the last few
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years the activities and attitude of people have been change rapidly. Consequently the type and
characteristics of solid waste also changed. The AMC is responsible for collection, transportation,
management and disposal the garbage generated within the city limits and it is a major headache of
AMC as the quantity and variety of solid waste increased day by day. Though the AMC has a wellestablished and planned centralized solid waste management system but it is quite unsatisfactory
and subject considerable part of population to serious health risk. The projected solid waste to be
generated in AMC area is shown in the figure 2.

Figure 2: Projected solid waste generation in AMC

(Source: City Development Plan 2007)

Selected as a mission city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JnNURM), the issue of managing municipal solid wastes was a prime concern in the area. Under
the nodal role of Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA), a project was conceived with
the help of USFIRD and IDFC to develop a regional engineered land fill facility. The Municipal
Solid waste management project of Asansol Urban Area is unique in that it is the first engineered
landfill facility in the state.

6.

Quantity of Solid waste generation in Asansol Municipal Corporation

At present in AMC area per capita solid waste generation per day is 320gms and the estimated
generation of solid waste per day is 220 Metric tons (MTs), among which garbage is 175 MTs and
building debris is 45 MTs. As the purchasing power of the people is increasing, the amount of waste
generated is increasing drastically. The generation of waste by various income groups are shown in
Table 1.

Table1: Solid waste generation by various income groups in AMC

(Source: City Development Plan 2007)

. If we consider the categorical distribution of solid waste generation, then we find the following
characteristics. The residential areas contribute 68%, commercial sector 16%, halls, schools,
institutions contribute 14% and generation from industrial sector is 2%. Besides the above mention
category hospital and clinic have separate contribution to solid waste generation (Haldar 2015). As
per the City Development Plan of Asansol, Table 2 shows the solid waste generation by the various
sectors and their percentage share in the total solid waste generation.

Table 2: Share of various sectors in solid waste generation in AMC

(Source: City Development Plan 2007)

7. Solid Waste Collection

7.1 Primary collection of solid waste

The primary collection of solid waste is done by fully with man power. For primary collection
there are several no of workers with specific work scheduled. The workers perform their duty in
three shift which includes morning shift from 6.00 A.M to 11.00 A.M, day shift from 11.00A.M
to 2.00 P.M and evening shift from 2.00 P.M to 5.00 P.M. In addition there exists a night
conservancy service between 8.30 P.M to 1.00 A.M. The primary collection includes the
following activities1. Sweeping in different areas for collecting the garbage.
2. Storing the garbage in the specific bins.
3. Door to door collection the garbage.
4. Collecting the waste from the house holds by Tricycles for unloading in transfer stations.
The workers perform the above mention activities by using the following implements- brooms,
baskets (bamboo and aluminum), brushes, iron plate, containerized push carts, tricycles and
rotor-mould wheeled bins as shown in figure 3. All the implements are supplied from Asansol
Municipal Corporation. One of the most important achievements of AMC is the introduction of
Tricycle which stands as a wonder tool for better collection of MSW at door steps.

Figure 3: Daily collection of Household garbage in AMC

(Source:Waste Inventory in West Bengal 2009)

7.2 Secondary Collection

Secondary collection is the transfer of solid waste from street to transfer stations and from
transfer stations to disposal sites. For these activities there are engaged several numbers of
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heavy vehicles like dumper and lorries and light vehicles like tractor , van , chhota-hathi etc
with specific route scheduled for each and every vehicle for each trip. There are 12 solid
waste transfer stations in AMC. No. of trips allotted for heavy vehicle is 3 trips per day and 4
trips for light vehicle per day which is responsible for transferring 210 tons garbage to transfer
station per day.

Figure 4: Large collection containers in AMC

(Source:Waste Inventory in West Bengal 2009)

However this process is followed mostly but silt from open drains across the project area is
disposed at the same roadside collection points where the rest of the household and
commercial waste is temporarily deposited. This is a widespread practice, which further
compounds the problem by spoiling the quality of the waste the feedstock for the plants. It
not only creates foul smell for the residents of the area but also provides a very unpleasant
view of the streets where they are deposited as shown in figure 5 and figure 6.

Figure 5: Silt from drains dumped with solid wastes

Figure 6: Dumping of Wastes together

(Source: Socio-economic Survey Report of Asansol Sub-division 2010)

8. Waste disposal
8.1 Landfill
At present there are three waste disposal sites under the AMC which are open dumping and partly
covering with debris. One dumping ground is located at Kalipahari covering an area around 27
acres , second one at Samdihi, Burnpur covering an area around 03 acres and third one is off the
highway at Mangalpur which is an abandoned open cast coal mine.
Daily average disposed of solid waste to these sites is 200-210 MT/Day. For improving the
existing Landfill sites as SCIENTIFIC Engineered Landfill M/s. GEPIL has constructed a
Sanitary Engineered Landfill site (AMC 2015).

Figure 7: Mangalpur landfill site

(Source:Indo-USAID Fire-D project)

8.2 Compost site

For the compost plant at Asansol, as against the originally envisaged site on the National Highway
near Kalipahari, a new site has been identified. The site is in the southwest of the city, located about
5-7 km off the highway in Mohishila/Kotaldihi Wards of the Asansol Municipal Corporation. It is a
vast expanse of over 100 acres of undulating and uncultivated land. It is generally low-lying land
along a small nalla, which joins the Damodar River about 3 km further to the south. (USAID 2007)

9.

Bio-medical waste disposal

In Asansol there is a bio-medical waste treatment facility to dispose of wastes from health
establishments. The facility has been developed by M/s Medicare Incin Pvt. Ltd. With capacity to
treat BMW from 30,000 beds/day. Asansol-Durgapur Development Authority has provided a lease
land of area 2 acres (WBPCB 2009). The facility started operation in 2008 and is in use till date.

Figure 8: Bio medical waste collection vehicle

(Source:Waste Inventory in West Bengal 2009)

Figure 9: BMW treatment facility in Asansol

(Source:Waste Inventory in West Bengal 2009)

10. Capturing methane from the solid waste of Asansol Municipal Corporation
A study had been commissioned to explore methane capture options and appraise the proposed
treatment and disposal solutions. It commenced in March 2007 and an inception report was
submitted in April 2007. The proposal stated that Mangalpur SLF site could comprise a compost
plant of modest capacity operating together with four independent bioreactors, each with an
operational life of 5 years. Over a cycle of 15-20 years, the four bioreactors working in rotation
would help in capturing methane to the maximum potential (landfill gas @ 6.24x10-3 standard
m3/kg of wet waste/year or more), as well as yield stabilized organics.(USAID 2007)
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11.

Problems of waste management still present in Asansol

1. Lack of sufficient dust bins is one of the major problems. There are many areas where dustbins
are not found thats why people of these areas force to throw the waste materials on road and
fallow land which is not collected by municipal workers.
2. Wrong placements of dustbins are found influencing by political leader. So people of many
areas are not avail the facility which generates huge amount of street waste.
3. Lack of disposal site due to increasing population and rapid urbanization. In AMC areas two
disposal sites used are not spacious and far from the main city causing additional time and cost
for transportation.
4. The number of workers engaged for the collection is not sufficient. It is very essential to
increase the number of workers according to ward and producing solid waste. Besides number
of vehicles also not sufficient for transporting the solid waste.
5. The implements used in primary collection are old except the tricycles and most of the workers
are untrained.
6. The present transportation facilities available in AMC for solid waste disposal are not adequate
for transporting all garbage collecting from different sources. The no of trips per day allotted for
the waste disposal will not carry the present materials.
7. Finally the system of municipal solid waste management of Asansol Municipal Corporation is
not up to date. All aspects related to solid waste management such as techniques, equipment,
vehicles, manpower are outdated in the context of present highly technologically advanced
society.

12.

Conclusion
The lifestyle of the people of AMC has undergone an enormous increase and so the waste
generation would increase many folds in Asansol in future. The methods of waste collection are
efficient but segregation of waste is not done properly. Though landfill sites and compost sites have
been put into use but they are not enough keeping in mind the enormous amount of solid waste that
is generated in the city. The option of capturing methane is a very noble approach but proper
implementation of the same is needed. To conclude, a lot of improvements, policies and
infrastructure are required to meet the requirements of collection, segregation and disposal of solid
waste of current population as well as the coming future years when development would be rapid.
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REFERENCES
1. Manual and Municipal Solid Waste Management, 2000. Central Public Health and Environmental
Engineering Organization, Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India.
2. Asansol Municipal Corporation, Viewed 15 February 2016,
< http://www.asansolmunicipalcorporation.org/sanitation.php>
3. Socio-economic Survey Report of Asansol Sub-division - 2010, prepared by Department of Architecture
and Regional Planning, IIT Kharagpur, 2007.
4. Haldar, S., 2015. Present status of solid waste management system in Asansol Municipal Corporation.
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 20(4), pp.31-6.
5. The Communities Group International 2007, Exploring methane capture options under the AsansolDurgapur Urban Area solid waste management project, Indo-USAID Financial Institutions Reform and
Expansion Project, The Unites States Agency for International Development
6. Final Report on Waste Inventory in West Bengal -2007, prepared by the West Bengal Pollution control
Board, Government of West Bengal.