Material Waste: Dumping in the Temple City

by Soham Bose

Introduction

Solid Waste Management (SWM) in India remains a significant urban challenge, particularly due to increasing economic prosperity and rising consumption levels. While waste generation has surged, funding for SWM services and municipal capacity remains woefully inadequate. Piles of unsegregated waste—ranging from biodegradable banana peels to nearly indestructible plastic bottles—are a common sight in Indian cities.

Despite the Solid Waste Management Rules notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change in 2016, progress remains slow across legal, financial, and technical aspects of SWM. Bhubaneswar is no exception, with its waste management efforts primarily falling under the purview of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and, to some extent, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).

This policy critique focuses on Bhubaneswar’s SWM challenges, particularly in waste storage, processing, and disposal. Recent incidents highlight the severe environmental and public health risks stemming from systemic lapses.

The Crisis of Waste Accumulation

One of the most alarming failures in Bhubaneswar’s SWM was the waste pile-up at the Temporary Transit Station (TTS) near Sainik School in late 2023. Garbage remained uncollected for days near schools and hospitals, leading to foul odors spreading across northern Bhubaneswar. More concerning were reports of toxic fumes causing respiratory and skin conditions among residents.

The situation escalated when a local resident filed a complaint with the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal was dissatisfied with the BMC’s response, particularly because over one lakh tons of legacy waste had accumulated alongside newly generated waste. The root cause? Low processing capacity at the transit station and the absence of sanitary disposal grounds.

Much of this legacy waste comes from the now-defunct Bhuasuni landfill, which not only posed public health risks but was also located in an eco-sensitive zone, causing irreparable damage to the Bhuasuni wetlands.

Waste Collection Failures and Environmental Impact

Beyond processing and disposal issues, Bhubaneswar’s waste collection system is severely inadequate. According to BMC’s own affidavit, the city generates around 800 tonnes of solid waste daily, but BMC collects only 500 tonnes. The remaining 300 tonnes of untreated waste often end up in wetlands and low-lying zones of the Mahanadi River Basin, a crucial water source for Odisha.

The systemic failure of the BMC in waste processing and disposal is only half the story. An equal measure of blame lies with Bhubaneswar’s residents and commercial establishments, whose lack of cooperation exacerbates the crisis. Despite extensive awareness campaigns across 67 municipal wards, many households and businesses refuse to segregate waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable categories.

Hotels, markets, and restaurants, categorized as bulk waste generators, often violate disposal norms. Instead of proper handovers to waste collection agencies, they dump unsegregated waste at unmarked collection points, further overwhelming an already struggling SWM system.

Bhubaneswar’s waste management policies must be analyzed in the broader national and global SWM policy landscape. Urban waste is a direct by-product of industrial and economic activity, arising from five key stages:

1. Resource Extraction
2. Intermediate Production
3. Final Production
4. Distribution
5. Consumption

Waste enters the SWM system only at the final consumption stage. Therefore, SWM policies must focus on the twin pillars of SWM infrastructure and SWM services, which shape waste management strategies worldwide.

Environmental and Public Health Risks

Two major concerns dominate the global SWM discourse:

1. Environmental degradation
2. Public health hazards

These risks are equally prevalent in Bhubaneswar. Unprocessed solid waste contributes to:

• Air pollution from toxic fumes (as seen at Sainik School TTS).
• Water contamination through leachate from unsanitary dumping (as in Bhuasuni landfill).
• Increased disease vectors like mosquitoes and rodents, leading to health epidemics.

Moreover, unprocessed solid waste releases methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO₂, making SWM a significant climate change issue.

Failure of Policy Implementation

Despite Bhubaneswar’s reputation as India’s No. 1 Smart City, its SWM policies expose serious gaps in governance. The SWM Rules 2016 clearly mandate that states must develop a comprehensive SWM policy in consultation with stakeholders—including waste pickers, self-help groups, and civic organizations.

Yet, as of February 2022, Odisha’s Housing & Urban Development (H&UD) department had failed to draft a state-wide SWM policy, a lapse also criticized in the CAG’s Performance Audit of SWM (2022).

Even at the national level, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has not formulated an integrated SWM strategy, despite being required to do so within six months of the 2016 SWM notification.

In the absence of a state- or city-specific SWM framework, Bhubaneswar relies on a patchwork of related policies, including:

1. Odisha Urban Sanitation Policy (2017)
2. Odisha Inclusive Urban Sanitation Policy (2024)
3. Environmental Plan for Bhubaneswar

However, none of these documents take a holistic, systems-based approach to waste management. Instead, they offer ad hoc measures that fail to address the city’s growing waste crisis. Had Bhubaneswar fully implemented SWM Rules 2016, the situation today would be a challenge, not a crisis.

Key Recommendations for Bhubaneswar’s SWM Policy

1. Holding Producers Accountable

Companies that manufacture products such as diapers, sanitary napkins, and plastic packaging must be held responsible for the waste burden they create. The 2016 SWM Rules already emphasize Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), yet policies like the Odisha Urban Sanitation Policy (2017) fail to incorporate producer accountability mechanisms.

SWM policies should introduce corporate tax breaks or CSR funding mandates to ensure companies contribute to waste management infrastructure.

2. Making Consumers Responsible for Waste Disposal

Consumers—both households and businesses—must recognize waste management as a critical public service, akin to water and electricity. Currently, SWM is an invisible cost; people generate waste but take no responsibility for its disposal.

The BMC’s new rules for bulk waste generators (hotels, apartments, businesses) impose fines for non-compliance, but enforcement remains inconsistent. A stricter service-based SWM model would create direct accountability between waste generators and waste management services.

3. Conducting a Comprehensive SWM Audit

BMC must immediately audit its SWM successes and failures. While there have been notable wins in waste decentralization and resource recovery, a systematic evaluation is needed.

This audit should feed into the Bhubaneswar Environmental Plan, forming the foundation for a long-term integrated SWM strategy (15-20 years).

Conclusion

Bhubaneswar’s waste crisis is not just a governance failure—it is a structural failure in urban planning, policy implementation, and civic responsibility. Without producer accountability, consumer awareness, and a city-wide integrated SWM strategy, Bhubaneswar will remain trapped in cycles of mismanagement and crisis response.

The path forward demands systems thinking, multi-stakeholder responsibility, and a commitment to long-term waste reduction and resource recovery. Only then can Bhubaneswar truly live up to its Smart City status.