Waste Management Must Become Individual Responsibility, Says Vice President Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: The rapidly growing urban population of India will add at least 300 million more people by 2050, resulting in half of India’s population living in cities. Such a population burden will inevitably translate into generation of more waste and it is up to us to ensure that there is sufficient awareness about management of waste. These were Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s views on the expected growth that urban waste generation is likely to see. Mr Naidu was addressing a gathering, post the release of two books on waste management, ‘A Treatise on Cleanliness’ and ‘Waste Management, an Introduction.’

The Vice President pointed out that India was witnessing a phase of growth and development, and more people were moving to cities to become a part of that development, waste generation was inevitable. Building awareness on self-sustaining system of waste management and waste disposal was the only way of reducing waste production. Mr Naidu also said that emphasis should be given on innovative methods of disposing residential, commercial and manufacturing waste. Waste disposal is related to numerous associated issues and a treatise on solid and liquid waste management will help in tackling waste better, said the Vice President.

On a global scale, waste management is still evolving. Approximately 330 million metric tonnes of waste was generated in 2003, and has exponentially increased in the last 15 years. Fast rates of development, growth in population and the increase in industrial activity, are all contributing factors, said Mr Naidu.

In his address, the Vice President also spoke about how unsafe waste disposal can lead to bigger environmental concerns such as greenhouse gas emissions and global warming due to excessive methane generation. Talking about working towards better technologies to build manage waste better, the Vice President said that India will continue work towards introducing clean technologies that help in better waste management, and address the growing problems of municipal solid waste and e-waste.

Rapid changes in technology and obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe. Technical solutions are available, but in most cases a legal framework, a collection, logistics, and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied. I am happy to note that the Government has put an E-waste policy in place, said Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.

The Vice President also praised the ongoing Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, saying the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project has brought about much needed change in the way people perceived waste management. Concluding his speech, Mr Naidu said that while technological innovation is happening on a large scale, individual responsibility should also be taken into account when considering waste management so that India can move towards a zero waste policy.

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