ENVIRONMENTAL%20LAW%20FOR%20URBAN%20MANAGEMENT

1
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOR URBAN MANAGEMENT

• Almitra H Patel,
• Member, Supreme Court Committee for SWM in Class
  1 Cities
• 50 Kothnur, Bagalur Rd, Bangalore 560077
• almitrapatel_at_rediffmail.com

2
WASTE IS WEALTH

• Since Vedic times, food wastes
• returned to the soil for sustainable
• farming. The plastic yug and urea
• subsidies have destroyed this cycle.
• Villages around cities suffer horrific
• waste dumps, dogs, flies, smoke
• stench but feel helpless to protest.

3
WHY A PIL FOR SWM ?

• Bangalore began dumping its waste
• randomly on its beautiful outskirts for
• want of official waste-disposal sites.
• Capt Velu and I found this the case all
• over India, during our 100-city Clean
• India Campaigns by road in 1994 95.

4
WP 888/96 in SUPREME COURT

• Filed against every State and U.T.
• GoI, CPCB, 10 worst and 4 best cities.
• 1998 SC 8-member Committee formed
• and Interim Report presented to 400
• municipal officials, on all aspects.
• 1999 Final Report approved by all 300 Class 1
  Cities in mini-referendum
• 2000 MSW Mgt Handling Rules

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MSW Rules 2000

• Apply to all ULBs, pop over 20,000
• Mandatory to set up waste processing and disposal
  facilities by 31.12.2003
• Supreme Court will soon send case to
• every State High Court for monitoring
• ULBs compliance with these Rules.
• Citizens can approach the Amicus for
• redressal of citys non-performance.

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Key Recommendations

• Keep Wet and Dry wastes unmixed
• at source until collected at fixed time.
• Daily doorstep collection of wet waste
• for Composting. Landfill only rejects.
• Dry wastes left to informal recyclers.
• City must not mix any debris (malba), drain silt
  or road dust in garbage collection. Use 2nd
  shift trip if reqd.

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THE BEST WAY TO KEEP STREETS CLEAN IS NOT TO
DIRTY THEMAIM FOR BIN-LESS CITIES

• Calcutta uses its normal handcarts staff
• at no extra charge to citizens.
• 80 cooperation in residential areas.
• Nasik loads directly from homes into tipper
  trucks, to handle waste once only.
• Most cities use 4-6-bucket handcarts.

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EXISTING MPL ACTS ARE GOOD ENOUGH

• No additional legislation is reqd, as
• SR Rao showed with Additional
• Cleaning Charges in Surat, or Mumbai
• does for Apartments wet-waste only.
• Bangalores official policy is for wet-
• dry collection in separate bins in cart

9
SCHOOL KIDS CLEANED UP COORG DISTRICT

• They bring all thin-plastic waste from home to
  school one day a week.
• A waste-buyer visits schools weekly.
• Funds are collected class-wise and
• Used at end of term for Eco-Clubs.
• Parents cooperate wonderfully !

10
RECYCLING of DRY WASTES NEEDS HELP

• SEWA Ahmedabad is best, all-India
• SNDT Pune has rag-pickers Union
• PCMC provides waste-sorting and storage space,
  eqpt at dump to recycle plastic by Mahila Sangha
• Mumbai gives PET collection space

11
ENCOURAGE RECYCLING THRU PROACTIVE POLICIES

• Provide waste-sorting storing spaces.
•  
• Promote eco-parks with quality power and soft
  loans for pollution control eqpt, to bring
  recyclers into the mainstream.
•  
• Change PWD codes and specifications to include
  beneficial new technologies like
  waste-plastic-modified bitumen roads and fly-ash
  use in bricks, embankments and highways.

12
START by CLEANING SLUMS

• A City is only as clean as its Dirtiest Areas.
• Slums are the easiest to clean and the most
  cooperative.
• Mumbai uses take-away bins in Slum Adoption
  Schemes.
• Blore has trucks stop at gate.

13
MINIMISE WASTES !

• Mumbai ALMs reduce wastes by 90
• Spraying Delhis dalao with bioculture
• reduced monthly clearance trips from
• 30 to just 6 ! Savings pay for treatment
• Campus-composting services are in.
• Require this for all large public spaces
• Hotel wastes go to Food Banks or pigs

14
COMMERCIAL AREAS COOPERATE THE LEAST

• Charge them Polluter-Pays user
• fees and modify the cleaning hours.
• Require each ground-flr shop/office
• to keep its frontage-width clean
• including pavement drain.
• New By-laws may be needed for this.

15
DEBRIS MANAGEMENT

• Dumped on streets or vacant plots at night
• May need new Bylaws for Fines after Notice
• or walls around vacant plots (Rajkot) or
• clearance on payment (Chennai, Ghaziabad).
• Collect volume-based deposit on Plan-Sanction
• Start Debris Hot-line to link buyers producers.
• Bldg materials must move on-site below 1st slab
• or confiscate collect separately for citys
  use.

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PLAN for CLEAN CITIES

• when adding Wards or planning Layouts
• Parking and washing space for handcarts
• Dry-Waste sorting and storage spaces
• Parking for take-away trucks at markets
• Hospital-waste-management sites / space
• Debris exchanges,waste-for-fuel or feed.

17
ZONING PLANS

• Move livestock out to planned zones before adding
  or developing new areas
• Plan dispersed space for Hawking Zones
• Zones for migrant construction labour, and plan
  for those who will stay back.
• Affordable Housing Zoning for slum-free cities,
  with sites-and-services.

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REGULATIONS FOR CLEAN CITIES

• Sale Deeds to have clauses for
• Not mixing wet and dry wastes
• Rainwater-harvesting, groundwater recharge
• Common toilets water in pvt societies
  temporary toilets during construction
• Cleanliness of frontages till road centre if any
  ground-floor offices or shops.

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SPECIAL ROLE OF DEVLPMT AUTHORITIES

• Avoid unserved Twilight Zones
• Waste clearance from Day One by DA or private
  agents, with user fees and Polluter-Pays for
  trade-wastes.
• AVOID unsustainable NGO Pilot projects that seek
  capital operating funds !
• Give area to ULB when 50 occupied.

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SITES FOR WASTE MGT

• MSW Rules Sch III 1. asks Development
• Authorities to identify and hand over
• sites to ULBState UD Dept to coordinate.
• Dont just look for available Revenue land.
• Identify the most suitable site, then
• lease, buy or acquire it at market rates.

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Waste - processing disposal sites lie mostly
out side ULB limits always face NIMBY
resistance

• So there must always be advance
• involvement of local residents in an
• advisory committee, plus Polluter Pays
• compensation to the host Panchayat or
• Ward by the ULB or State by way of
• better infrastructure, facilities, payment.

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NEVER start open-dumping of waste in a
proposed waste - processing site !

• No matter how desperate the need for space,
  do it right or not at all.
•  
• Ground - water can be polluted in one
• downpour, and take 15 years to clean up.
•  
• Waste stabilisation in windrows
• is quick, easy inexpensive (Pune,Blr)
• using EM. Powerpoint available.

23
Urgently declare the mandatory Buffer Zones of
No-New-Development around existing and
identified waste-processing disposal sites.

•  When new homes, schools and industries
• spring up around such once - ideal sites,
• protests for shifting of the compost plant
• begin even before it can come up,
• supported by the unplanned-builder lobby.

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Proceed aggressively to compost all city wastes

• and thus meet Indias annual shortfall of
• 6 million tons of organic manures to
•   drought-proof our dry-land agriculture,
•   reclaim our degraded soils,
• revegetate mining overburdens,
•  
• reduce pollution of peri-urban areas.

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State Agriculture and Fertiliser Ministries
should prepare a joint Action Plan

• to ensure locally available and affordable
  city
• compost use along with chemical
  fertilizers.
• Combined use ensures three times better
• uptake of urea by crops and prevents nitrate
• pollution of ground-water by unbalanced over-
• use of urea or Nitrogenous fertilisers
• Such Integrated Plant Nutrient Management
• ( IPNM ) gives excellent yields without
• depleting soil quality over time.

26
Avoid seeking free Waste-To-Energy (WTE)
options which never work

• 33 feasibility reports 17 MOUs over 5
• years not a single working WTE plant,
• several scams, 2 convictions and a
• pretence at pelletisation.
• There are no free BOOT schemes.
• The public pays the hidden penalties for
  quality, quantity counter-guarantees

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WTE costs 13 times more for waste processing and
3-9 times more for power!

• e.g. Lucknows Rs 65 crores for 125 tons a day
  and an impossible 5 MW, with 15 cr subsidy from
  MNES.
• A 125 tpd compost plant costs 5crore.
• One MW conventional power costs 4-6 crores for
  thermal or hydel energy

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ENGINEERED LANDFILLS

• Specified in MSW Rules for all, to prevent
  leachate from undigested waste or rainfall on
  wastes from entering ground-water.
• A good one at Pune costs Rs 2 cr for 600tpd for
  2-3 yrs life. There is also one at Nasik.
• Fully lined landfills are not really reqd for v v
  small towns or in very dry areas.
• ??? May seek case-by-case exemption from SPCB for
  these locations, taking care to collect domestic
  haz-wastes separately.

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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM FOR CLEAN CITIES

• Running a city efficiently and keeping
• it clean every day requires exceptional
• skills, commitment and dedication at all
• levels.
•  
• Administrative reforms can help create
• an improved working climate for this.

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Train tomorrows City Managers today, for
tomorrows urban problems and solutions.

• Use the skills of our Navaratna City Managers
  (Indias unsung heroes) as trainers in our IAS
  Academies.
• Both IAS Public Service Commission curricula
  need full-scale courses on waste mgt. Also
  training programs in SWM issues for new
  Corporators.

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Appoint City Managers on 2-3-year fixed-term
contracts to ensure peak results.

• Cities, like Companies need annual, three-year
  and ten-year plans and a Perform-or-Perish work
  culture.
•  
• Frequent transfers at whim at a days notice
  play havoc with effective planning, execution
  and morale, and the cost of failed long-term
  planning is incalculable.

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Replace a culture of mistrust with a culture
of faith

• Each person assigned any responsibility
• should automatically have some financial
• authority to go with the respective post, eg
• 1 Days salary as automatic discretionary
  imprest allowance for Class 3 staff,
• 1 Wks pay to Cl. 2 staff for stitch-in-time
  action
• 1 Months salary as imprest for Class 1
  officers
•  Delegation of fiscal powers will make a
• huge difference to grievance redressal,
• on-road efficiency, productivity costs.

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The interests of the few must never over-ride the
interests of the many Be up - front about
Labor Reform 

• The poorest always suffer the most from
• uncleaned cities creeping privatisation
• thru recruitment freezes while cities grow.
• Triple the job openings in SWM by
• exempting waste mgt services from the
• Contract Labour Act, and privatise as much
• of city area as staff shortage . Eg A.P.

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Strengthen city finances

• Allow City Managers and/or elected bodies their
  74th Amendment autonomy to raise resources in
  their respective ways with-out requiring State
  Govt assent for this.
•  
• Index all items of city income annually to
  the cost-of-living index to stay in tune with
  reality.
• This avoids the populist deferment of needed
  increases till after elections. All political
  parties can act in the name of such blanket
  rules.

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Promote public-pvt partnership

• Ensure credible payment mechanisms thru
• fool-proof payment guarantees through
• Banks. If payments, agreements or grants
• are delayed, parties will simply run away.
•  
• Avoid unrealistic demands for waste-
• processors to bear waste-transport costs
• or pay royalties. Hygienic waste
• processing and disposal is a social cost,
• easily met by more disciplined waste-
• collection that excludes debris and silt.

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Enforce Producer Responsibility

• Cities are banning Paan Paraag etc.
• Similarly require take-back schemes, esp of
  wasteful or hard-to-recycle packaging.
• Require take-back of PET bottles at producers
  cost, not cities and citizens.
• New industries here must conform to their
  home-country environmental standards.