Manipur witnessing rapid growth of solid wastes

Our Correspondent Imphal, Sep. 26 (EMN): With the rapid growth in urban population coupled with economic growth and rise in community living standards, the generation of municipal solid wastes in Imphal and its neighbouring towns have been increased manifold both in quantity and quality. “More than 120 metric tonnes of municipal solid wastes are generated in Imphal area on a daily basis against the previous record of about 80 metric tonnes,” says Director Nepram Gitkumar of Municipal, Administration Housing and Urban Development (MAHUD). “Many sweepers were also engaged for cleaning Imphal city day and night.” Considering the public demand, the state’s lone solid waste management plant at Lamdeng in the outskirts of Imphal which has been in operation since December last year, is also planning to accommodate waste generated from Imphal, Lamlai, Lamshang,Sekmai towns, Director added. More than 20 truck load of municipal solid waste were transported to the plant on a daily basis. At this juncture, the state MAHUD department is also planning to take up solid waste management programs for seven more towns out of state’s 27 towns on a cluster basis. The towns are Thoubal, Lilong, Yairipok, Wangjing Lamding, Sikhong, Andro and Heirok. According to International Journal of Waste Resources, Imphal town which generates about 120 tonnes/day of solid waste is projected to rise about 170 tonnes/ day by 2035. About 40-50% of that waste is collected by the management authorities while rest of it remains uncollected. In the absence of sanitary landfills, solid wastes get dumped in the open places, creating nuisance and unhygienic conditions. This happened in most of the towns in Manipur including those in the hill districts as there is no proper system to segregate and dispose various kinds of solid waste right from unused electronic gadgets to kitchen waste, feels an observer. It may recalled that Manipur’s State capital Imphal is Northeast India’s third cleanest city after Gangtok and Aizawl, a nationwide cleanliness survey by Union Ministry of Urban Development has found. In the survey of 434 cities, conducted as part of Modi Government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, Imphal is ranked 122 (1192 score), while Aizawl (1222 score) and Gangtok (1414 score) are ranked 105 and 50 respectively, according to the 3rd edition of Swachh Survekshan.