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CASE STUDY ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT UNDER AGARTALA CITY

AGARTALA MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

BY

Dr MILIND RAMTEKE, IAS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

AGARTALA MUNICIPALCOUNCIL AGARTALA, TRIPURA

  

 

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Brief i

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CASE STU

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Description: Four Zones- South, North East and Central, Number of wards-35 Total Area- 58.84 Sq Km and Density of 6,251/Sq km (16,190/sq mi) . No of Households is- 90000 Present Chairperson- Dr.PrafullaJitSinha 

 

Solid Waste Generation under Agartala Municipal council: 1. Municipal Solid Waste 2. Biomedical Waste MSW Generation and Composition of Agartala City:

Sources of Solid Waste Generation Quantity ( Tentative)

Waste Generated by Household waste/Kitchen Waste( door to door collection) 20 MT/Day

Waste Generated by Vegetable Markets, Fish Markets, Mandisetc 60 MT/Day

Waste generated by workshops/garages/electronic waste 4.5 MT/Day

Commercial waste (Hotels/shops/Institutions)15% 30 MT

Dead Animals/Carcasses 0.5 MT

Waste thrown on roads collected by Sweeping 125 MT

Drain silt 10 MT

Total Solid Waste Generation 250 MT/Day

  

 

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Waste Generation Stage  Primary Collection  Secondary Collection & Transportation  Waste Treatment Waste 

Waste Generation : House  Holds,  Commercial  Waste, Street  Sweeping  Waste,  Parks, Municipal  waste  from  Hospitals etc.  Recovery  of 

Recyclable waste 

Construction  and  Demolition(C&D) Waste:  Consists  of  concrete  & masonry waste‐Non Recyclable 

Street Sweeping

Door to Door Collection  

Bulk Collection from Markets, Institution, Hotels and Restaurants, Boarding House etc

Drain Clearing Sludge 

Biological  Treatment Technology ‐Aerobic composting, ‐Anaerobic Decomposition methods  (Such  as  bio‐methanation)  

Thermal  Treatment Technology ‐Incineration, ‐Gasification  etc. 

Bulk Generations: Market,  Instutions,  Hotals  & Restaurants,  Salughter  House Waste etc. 

Disposal in Sanitary Landfill 

Stages of Waste generation, collection, transport and disposal as per the Guidelines mentioned in the SWM Toolkit given by Urban development Ministry, Government of India.

Community Collection 

Bins (DP 

containers)/Refuse 

Compactors/ Dhalaos 

Transfer Station(to economize 

waste transportation) 

Inert waste recovery though

 Physical Screen

ing and m

anufacturing 

building mate‐(ECO‐Bricks) 

Or 

  

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Primary Collection of Municipal Solid Waste under AMC- Primary collection is the practice of waste collection from its very source of generation. Primary collection includes ‘house to house’ for ‘door to door’ collection, collection of waste from commercial units like shops, hotels and restaurants.

House to house garbage collection is being done by various NGOs using tri-cycles at present. 52 No of NGOs who engage about 150 Tri-Cycle Pullers at present. NGOs charge Rs. 30/house/month as user fee. Present coverage is only 30 to 40% which is not satisfactory and due to which there are lot of complaints from people.

Problems in implementing door to door collection:

Primary collection system (door to door collection) is not efficient Coverage is only 30%.

NGO service is not on daily basis and is notregular and collect garbage from houses only for two to three days in a week.

Lot of garbage is generated on the road, drains, footpaths as the people throw garbage on the roads and inside open drains due to improper system.

There are lotof complaints from citizens regarding lack of proper door to door garbage collection service.

This also adds extra financial burden to Agartala Municipal Council: Each year AMC takes up drain cleaning which involves Rs. 15 to 20 lakh for wages of labor for drain clearance.This incurs extra expenditure for Agartala Municipal Council for secondary collection as about 40 no of garbage collecting vehicles move in the city twice/thrice daily on all the roads of the city except the narrow lanes or gullies for garbage collection in order to keep the city clean and garbage free. Result is huge amount of fuel bill for Agartala Municipal Council to the tune of Rs. 20-22 lakhs per month i.e. Rs2.50 Crore per year.

Agartala Municipal Council is losing trust in the eyes of people.

Tri‐Cycle puller(NGO) 

collecting door to door 

garbage  

  

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Secondary collection of Municipal Solid Waste under AMC:

Agartala Municipal Council has placed more than 500 number of medium(1.1 cu meter) and large size(4.5 cu. Meter) Bins/containers by the side of major roads and in market and commercial areas. Daily more than 400 sweeping staff sweep the roads and market areas and garbage is collected in above said bins. One sweeping machine is also engaged for sweeping roads where there is footpath by the side of road.

Problems with secondary collection:

Relatively large quantity of garbage is generated on the roads and from the drains as most of the people throw their garbage on the roads or inside the open drains due to lack of efficient primary garbage collection system.

Relatively large number of laboursare required for sweeping and drain cleaning thus causing huge expenditure.

Transportation of Municipal Solid Waste:

Solid Waste thus generated is transported to the Dump-yardof Agartala Municipal Council which is about 15 km away from the main city of Agartala. On an average 50 vehicles of Agartala Municipal Council move daily twice or thrice for this purpose. As per the standard calculation about 50 vehicles make three trips for the Dump-yard. For this 280-300 no of labours from Mechanical section of Agartala Municipal Councilare engaged, majority i morning and some in after noon shift for lifting the garbage from the roadside and from the drains and also from various dustbins/containers. Two Heavy De-silting machines with high power suction for drainage clearance and transportation, have been recently procured and under operation.Two Cess-Pools for clearance of septic tanks (Night Soil)Government& Private buildings are working & two are to be procured shortly.All the vehicles of Mechanical wing are installed with GPS enabled vehicle tracking system.

Problems with transportation:

Relatively large number of vehicles are deployed for transportation Heavy fuel expenditure, from Rs. 80,000-100000/-per day Vehicles are routine such as trippers, trucks, dumper placers etc not

sophisticated modern such as compactors Relatively large number of labours are engaged.

  

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More vehicles means more operation and maintenance and fuel and labour cost.

Issue of fuel and log book entry is done manually thus leaving scope for manipulation on the part of drivers and cleaners. Software has been recently prepared by NIC and is in the stage of testing.

Disposal of SWM at present: At present all the garbage thus collected from the city is disposed in open in two Dumpyards by way of landfill without proper processing. There is some facility for processing of garbage at Devendra Chandra Nagar Dumpyard but it is not so scientific and sufficient. Hence most of the garbage is dumped without processing.

Problems with Processing of SWM at Dumpyard:

No scientific processing Open Dumping Problem of bad odour and flies Opposition from the nearby localities

New Initiatives by Agartala Municipal Council:New initiatives are being taken up and are planned to be implemented in near future as per the guidelines mentioned in the SWM Toolkit( JNNURM).

1. Procurement of modern sophisticated SWM Vehicles: Agartala Municipal council recently procured modern SWM vehicles worth about Rs. 7(Seven)Crores with the assistance from the State Government which includes 3 number of 14 Cu Meter Refuge Compactors, 10 Number of 8 Cu Meter Refuge Compactors, four no of skid steer loaders, 400 no of medium containers etc. With these vehicles the collection and transportation of MSW under Agartala Municipal council shall become more efficient and economical. By one estimate, the efficient use of refuge compactors may save Rs. 50 lakh per year.

  

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2. Procurement of two powerful heavy de-silting machines for drain clearance: Two number of powerful de-silting machines have been recently procured which will be helpful for reduction of manual cleaning of city drains to significant level. The silt is being disposed in the landfill at the Dump yard. These machines will ensure speedy cleaning and transportation of silt from the drains thus preventing chocking and blocking of drains.

3. Phasing out of old vehicles and small containers- about 25 No of old vehicles including small and medium dumper placers, old trucks and trippers shall be phased out thus saving around Rs 50 lakh per year which is at present required for fuel and repair maintenance of these vehicles.

4. Installation of software for vehicles of SWM- Already a software has been prepared by NIC which will be helpful for online issue of fuel for vehicles, procurement of spare-parts etcthus eliminating the scope manual manipulations. The software shall be installed and become operational soon.

5. Uniform/dress to conservancy staff: As per the guidelines mentioned in the SWM Toolkit(JNNURM), Agartala Municipal council has started distribution of the uniform, protective gears such as caps, boots, gum-boots, hand gloves , cloth masks etc to all the workers engaged in sweeping and garbage lifting activity. As per the norms, Agartala Municipal council shall provide two sets of uniforms to all the conservancy staff of Agartala Municipal Council each year. Necessary allocation has already been done in the budget of this year for the said purpose.

Dump Tank of 

De‐Silting 

Machine 

Newly 

Procured 

De‐Silting 

  

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6. Maximum use of mechanized sweeping so as to improve cleanliness and efficiency: Agartala Municipal council has recently procured one sweeping machine from TPS Pvt Ltd Gaziabad and is under operation. Agartala Municipal Council is planning increase use of mechanized sweeping machines in order to ensure effectiveness, economy.

7. Setting up of 250 TPD Solid Waste Processing plant at Devendra Chandra Nagar, Agartala: Agartala Municipal Council is going to set up 250 tons per day capacity Solid Waste Processing Plant on Public Private Partnershipbasis ( PPP) basis.DPR is already prepared for setting up of 250 TPD Solid Waste Processing Plant (Compost & Sanitary Landfill unit) at DC Nagar, Agartala on PPP basis. Firm/Agency has already been selected by two stage transparent tender process. Work order to be issued shortly in the month of July 2013. Plant to be operational by December 2013.

8. Setting up of Dispensary for regular health check up of SWM workers: As per the SWM Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Urban development Government of Tripura, at least two medical check ups are mandatory for all the personnel dealing with SWM. At present no such health check ups are being done under Agartala Municipal Council.Now

Newly Provided 

Uniform/dress to 

conservancy staff 

Mechanical sweeping 

under process 

  

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Agartala Municipal Council has decided to set up one OPD based dispensary which will become functional within few months. All the staff dealing with SWM shall be given health cards and there shall be two health check ups mandatorily after 6 months. Necessary budget provisions have already been made in this year budget for the said purpose.

9. Start of regular, dedicated Primary Municipal waste collection system(door to door garbage collection system) on Pilot/experimental basis in ward no 3 of AMC and ward no 18.- In addition to the existing door to door garbage collection system, Agartala Municipal Council has started primary Municipal Waste collection(door to door ) system which will be on daily basis for six days in a week and mechanized vehicles such as small auto trucks shall be used for door to door garbage collection in order to save the time and increase the efficiency and effectiveness. At present this system has been started in Ward no 3 of AMC on pilot/experimental basis in which the expenditure for auto rickshaw hiring shall be borne by Agartala Municipal Council for 35 no of wards and the payment of the NGOs (labour) collecting the door to door garbage shall be made through the user fee of Rs 30/household/month collected from the individual households. The outcome/effects are under study at present.

10. Plans for generation of awareness among people by IEC- Leaflets, announcements, small movie clips on SWM, Newspaper adds, school programmesetc: Agartala Municipal Council has initially earmarked fund of Rs. 300000/-( Rs. Three lakh only) forgeneration of awareness among people by IEC- Leaflets, announcements, small movie clips on SWM, Newspaper adds,

New daily regular door to door garbage collection system on pilot basis in ward no 3 of AMC

  

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school programmes etc. Timetable for various awareness generation programmes to make citizens aware for supporting door to door garbage collection, maintaining cleanliness and sanitation, various school programmes and rallies is being chalked out. Support from schools, local NGOs, Durga Puja clubs, media, social groupsetc shall be requested. One small movie clip has already been developed in this regard which can be flashed in theaters, cable TV, LED screens etc for awareness generation and change of attitude of people.

Some other related initiatives under Agartala Municipal council

1. Collection, Transportation and disposal of bio- Medical ( hazardous waste)

2. Sewerage system under North Zone 3. Mechanical Septage collection and treatment of septage at Sewerage

Treatment Plant 4. Construction of ILCS for EWS families 5. Rs. 200 Crore Drainage Project under 13th Finance Commission Grant

1.Collection, Transportation and disposal of bio- Medical ( hazardous waste): Agartala Municipal Council is collecting bio-Medical waste from all the Government/private hospitals, laboratories on daily basis. Necessary safety norms are being followed for this purpose. Some user fee is being charged for this. The bio-Medical waste which is collected is incinerated in the Diesel incinerator of Agartala Municipal council located at Hapania.

Bio‐Medical 

waste collection 

vehicle under 

AMC 

  

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2.Sewerage/Sewage Scheme at North Zone of Agartala Municipal Council under JNNURM

Currently, the City of Agartala does not have an underground sewage collection and sewage treatment system. The untreated sewage finds its way into several drainagechannels of the city and eventually finds its way into the Haora River, Khatakhal River,andAkhaura channel. In addition to about 8,250kgs/day of BOD it is estimated that500kgs/day of Nitrogen, 100kgs/day of Phosphate and 400kgs/day of Potassium isgenerated by the City of Agartala. As an impact of this, the water quality is affectedseverely, which is also confirmed by monitoring the physic-chemical and bacteriologicalparameters of the river water upstream and downstream of the City of Agartala. TheCentral Pollution Control Board identified the river stretch along the City of Agartala for the Haora River to be one of the grossly polluted stretches in minor river basins in Indiaand has recommended immediate conservation measures. The Tripura Pollution Boardcarried out assessments and recommended the implementation of a comprehensivesewerage collection and sewage treatment system for the City of Agartala.

Agartala Municipal council has taken up Rs 102.21 Crore Scheme under progress JNNURM for North Zone of Agartala Municipal Council –to be operational by December 2013. Almost 70 % work completed. 95 km sewer line network covering entire North Zone of AMC, 3500 manholes, 9 pumping stations, 11 lifting stations, one Sewerage Treatment Plant with 8 million liter per day sewerage processing capacity.

• The components are-

1. Sewerage House Connections and pipelines 2. Sewage Pumping Stations 3. Sewage Treatment and Disposal Facilities

  

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3.MechanicalSeptage collection and treatment of septage at Sewerage Treatment Plant:

There are about 70000 septic tanks under Agartala Municipal council out of which 11000 houses shall be directly connected to the new sewerage system which is under implementation under North Zone of AMC and shall be operational by the end of this financial year. Out of remaining 60000 septic tanks, there is need of clearance of about 10 % i.e. 6000 septic tanks per year as one septic tank gets full once in 10 years on an average. At present Agartala Municipal Council is operating only two number of cess-pool machines which are unable to reach in narrow lanes and gullies of the city. Also many people are not aware of this facility at the disposal of Agartala Municipal Council.Two new split type cess-pools to be procured shortly so as to take the machines in narrow lanes.Also AMC shall procure two number of new Cess-pool machines again so as to have total number of Cess-pool machines six. The target is to get at least 20 number of orders each day for septic tank clearance so as to cover about 6000 septic tanks per year. At present most of the people are cleaning their septic tanks manually and most of this night soil/septage is flown directly into the stormwater drainage and water bodies of the city and in the river and in some nallas which are flowing to Bangladesh across the international boarder for which Bangladesh many times raises serious concerns. The ultimate aim of Agartala Municipal council is to clear all the 6000-6500 septic tanks each year mechanically using various types of cess-pool machines and treat the septage in the newly built Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) of 8 Million Liters per Day Capacity which is getting ready by the end of this financial year under JNNURM Sewerage Scheme under North Zone of Agartala Municipal Council. This will help to eliminate the remnant practice of manual scavenging of septic tanks and shall reduce the contamination level of all the water bodies and rivers& channels flowing across the city and going to Bangladesh.Such methods are being practice in Urban centers of most of the South East Asian Countries including Malaysia where there is no standard sewerage lines/system in most of the cities.

  

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.Integrated Low Cost sanitation (ILCS) Scheme implementation under AMC

Integrated Low Cost Sanitation (ILCS)is schemefor urban poor under Ministry of HUPA, Government of India for provision of sanitary latrine to urban poor households. Already a DPR for construction of 18790 ILCS units across the city of Agartala has been approved by the Government of India in 2012 and till date more than 2000 ILCS units have already been constructed under this scheme. Agartala Municipal council is trying hard to complete the target of construction of 18970 no of Integrated Low Cost Sanitary Latrines by the end of this year which will eliminate the practice of dry latrines and open air defecation from Agartala City and shall help significantly to reduce the contamination level of the rivers and water bodies.

5.Rs. 200 Crore Drainage Project under 13th Finance Commission Grant:

Work has already started under Agartala Municipal Council for construction of RCC covered drains worth of Rs. 200 Crore. The project has been sanctioned under 13th Finance Commission Grant in Aid by Government of India and is under implementation stage. Covering of the drains shall cerate space for foot-paths and shall ease congestion and traffic on the roads. Also it will help to

Old Dry 

Latrine 

New ILCS 

Latrine 

Cess‐pool (Suction 

Machine) for 

clearance of septic 

tanks 

  

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prevent throwing of garbage and plastic materials into the open drains by careless people thus chocking the drains and contaminating and blocking the flow of storm water drainage.

Present Challenges in SWM before Agartala Municipal Council:

• It is practically difficult to enforce legal measures.

• Only 30% households are covered with house to house garbage collection system. Rest households throw the garbage over roads & drains which is lifted by AMC.

• AMC could clear only 900 to 1000 septic tanks mechanically last year out of 6000 septic tanks which are being cleared per year in the city, thus manual scavenging is being practiced.

• Rivers, water channels and water bodies are highly contaminated and polluted leading to international concerns

• Progress of ILCS is slow, AMC needs to speed up the construction so as to complete all the 18790 ILCS units within this financial year i.e. 31st March 2013.

• Behavior/habits and attitude of common people is not so conducive. citizens demand services but do not share responsibility for common good.

• Lack of awareness & careless attitude by people.

Aim: To make City of Agartala fully clean and green by effective contribution and active participation of all the stake-holders under Agartala Municipal council.

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