Hazardous Waste Management - Addl Inputs
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Swachh Bharat Mission
Hazardoes Waste Management (Issues, Root Cause, Solutions)
Key Issues and Root Causes identified:
1. Hazardous waste management in India is not done and there is little awareness
2. Old batteries and electronic appliances are thrown into the dustbin
3. Dry cleaning companies dispose their waste in the sewers
4. Factories dispose their residual chemicals into the water bodies like Yamuna
5. Many times, hazardous waste is burnt in open
6. Lead and arsenic material is openly used in different products
7. There is no set procedure for discarding the hazardous medical waste
8. Chinese toys, paints, packaging etc. are highly hazardous
9. It causes diseases and health problems like respiratory problems
10. It affects pregnant women and shows a long term effect on the babies
11. India has become a big dumping ground for hazardous waste
12. People are not aware about which items fall under the hazardous waste category
13. People are unaware about the ways of disposing hazardous waste
14. People are unaware about the bad health effects that hazardous waste can have
15. Many industries/hospitals do not have waste treatment plants
16. Hospitals discard the hazardous waste inappropriately to save money
17. There are no hazardous waste disposal sites made by the Government
18. The Government has also not made any strict rules and regulations against disposing hazardous waste in open
19. There are not enough hazardous waste management specialist in the country
20. The segregation at source is non-existent
Key Solutions Identified:
1. Government should make strict regulations against the disposal of hazardous waste in open
2. Classification of waste generated by industries should be done very carefully
3. Proper hazardous waste treatment facility should be established by the ULB/private operators
4. Burning hazardous waste in open should be stopped and a financial penalty should be applied to it
5. It should be made mandatory for the industries/hospitals to install waste treatment plants
6. Guidelines should be set to dispose medical waste properly
7. Import of low quality Chinese paints and toys which use hazardous chemicals should be banned in India
8. Dumping of hazardous waste in Indian waters by other countries should be made illegal
9. People should be educated about different items that come under the hazardous category
10. Awareness should be spread about the right ways of disposing hazardous waste like batteries etc.
11. Hospitals found discarding waste inappropriately should be heavily penalized, leading to cancellation of license
12. For medical waste , Incinerators must be made mandatory for Hospitals to be set up
13. Segregation of waste at source should be promoted
14. State Government should provide funds for implementation of Municipal Solid Waste rules
15. The ULBs should ensure segregation into biodegradable and non-biodegradable
waste and eventual disposal
16. Ship Breaking Units (in Alang in Gujarat) are the deadly sources of Hazardous Wastes generation. They should be closed.
17. Government should construct common effluent treatment plants at every industrial cluster
18. A PPP project could be made available for treating medical waste
19. Severe punitive action such as heavy fine, imprisonment, closure of companies which flout the rules
20. A mechanism should be devised for strict vigil and surveillance of toxic substances being discharged brazenly by companies. more