In all the countries of the world including India, the problems arising out of garbage and debris are becoming a crisis for human civilization. Debris and adulterated waste coming out of big and medium cities of India has taken the form of a serious problem. The construction and demolition work in the country generates more than 150 million tonnes of waste every year. In the capital Delhi alone, about seven thousand tonnes of debris and adulterated waste is generated every day, out of which only four thousand one hundred and fifty tonnes can be disposed of every day.
It is worth mentioning that 3,000 tonnes of debris and waste remains unrecycled which is spoiling air, water, soil etc. Besides, the debris that comes out of construction and demolition is strangling the Yamuna. Apart from this, due to lack of proper disposal of debris and waste, people secretly dump the debris in the drains or pits. Due to this the drains get filled and people have to face the problem of water logging every day. This is the condition of the country's capital, which has been battling air, water, noise and soil pollution for the past several years.
According to the 2018-19 report of State Pollution Control Boards and Pollution Control Committees, one lakh fifty two thousand seventy six tonnes of solid waste is generated in India every day. At the same time, the figures of 2020-21 show that India produces two hundred and seventy seven billion kilograms of garbage every year, that is, two hundred and five kilograms of garbage per person. Of this, only seventy percent of the waste is collected, the rest is scattered here and there on land or in water.
According to statistics one lakh forty nine thousand seven hundred and forty eight tonnes of garbage is collected. But out of this, only fifty-five thousand seven hundred and sixty-five tonnes or thirty-five percent of the garbage is disposed of properly every day. Fifty thousand tons i.e. thirty three percent are dumped in landfills and the remaining forty six thousand one hundred and fifty six tonnes do not account for one third of the garbage or debris generated daily.
With increasing population and depleting natural resources, the problem of waste disposal is increasing continuously. Today the condition has become such that there are mountains of garbage in Ghazipur in Delhi and Mulund dumping ground in Mumbai. Significantly, there are two types of waste generated in India, industrial waste and municipal waste. The responsibility of disposal of industrial waste rests with the industries, while the responsibility of disposal of municipal waste rests with the local administration.
Usually municipal corporations collect the garbage, but keep throwing it in some area near the population. This has a bad effect on the health of the citizens living there. According to the survey of the National Environmental Center, mixed waste is the most dangerous in the big cities of the country. This waste includes paper, plastic, metals, glass, toxic household waste, food like meat, eggs, etc., which create the most problems. Actually, Indians do not have the habit of waste management. Due to this, both dry and wet waste is put in the same box, which keeps on decomposing for many days.
E-waste and plastic waste have become enemies of human civilization globally. Therefore, there should be a strong arrangement for the recycling of e-waste and plastic waste. According to scientists, it takes about 500 years for ordinary plastic to decompose. Being readily available, it is used ignoring its toxicity. Only one in five parts of it is recycled in the world. In this way, eighty percent of it is going into the sea. The effect of this is that mammals are becoming victims of untimely death due to excessive use of plastic, knowingly or unknowingly.
Today the water of seas, rivers and lakes has become prone to many types of pollution. The role of the waste coming out of the cities is more in spoiling them. The water of wells and canals in towns and villages is also getting polluted due to plastic. According to a survey, the use of plastic has increased rapidly in urban, rural and urban areas after the seventies, which has also become the cause of many diseases.
Actually, plastic is presenting the most frightening picture in the world to us. It is estimated that one million plastic bottles per minute and five trillion plastic bags are purchased every year in the world. These are products that become garbage after just one use. Most of the plastic is used for packaging. The packaging industry has become the largest industry in the world. Every year 80 million tonnes of plastic is produced for this industry. We can imagine how large the amount of plastic waste is being buried in the sea and land. In metropolitan cities, seventy percent of the plastic waste is only.
The plastic which had become a friend of man a century ago, has become the enemy of human civilization today. Many problems, crises, diseases and deformities are being seen due to plastic. The use of plastic in industrial and domestic sectors has increased so much that without it no work is possible. Due to the culture of 'use and throw', plastic has become the cause of many diseases and crisis not only in the country but in the world.
Burning of used plastics produces many toxic gases, among which nitric oxide, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are the main ones. These gases can cause many problems like lung and eye diseases, cancer, obesity, diabetes, thyroid, stomach ache, headache. According to new research, due to the use of hot drinks and food in plastic utensils, the harmful chemicals present in it, dioxin, lead (lead), cadmium etc., reach our body by dissolving in food items, causing serious physical problems.
Though the central and state governments are taking steps for the management of waste, a lot remains to be done in this direction. As much as the problem has arisen in the cities due to adulterated waste, the same problem is increasing due to e-waste and debris. Therefore, there is a need to look at this problem in its entirety and solve it soon. For this, along with governments and NGOs, common man will also have to come forward. It is necessary to create awareness among the people about how to dispose of the garbage. Otherwise, the speed with which the problems are increasing due to debris, garbage and adulterated waste, they can take the form of a bigger crisis for the coming times.