Is Mumbai yet to develop proper waste management system?

Waste management in Mumbai is serious concern for researchers of the country and abroad. Apart from liquid and solid waste, electronic waste and even plastic and radioactive waste have become a cause of concern around the world today.

Even as the other cities in India are modernising and expanding, the population is increasing and so is the generation of waste. On the other hand, environmental pollution is increasing and human health is being damaged.

Apart from Mumbai, major cities of the country are yet to develop proper waste management.  As a result, academicians, researchers, doctors and industrialists of the country and abroad think that waste will become the main problem in our country as well as the whole world in the future. Therefore, a four-day international conference has started in Mumbai to find the right way of waste management.

The 13th International Conference on 'Sustainable Waste Management and Circular Economy and IPLA Global Forum 2023' has started at KJ Somaiya Institute Management in Mumbai under the initiative of International Society of Waste Management Air and Water.

The conference was inaugurated by Bart de Jong, Ambassador of the Netherlands in Mumbai. He expressed concerns about Mumbai's waste management, especially the use of plastic waste. However, he expressed that the use of plastic has reduced a lot compared to before.

Dr. Sadhan Kumar Ghosh, president of International Society of Waste Management Air and Water said, the use of plastic waste not only Mumbai but in other metro cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore is also very worrying. He appealed to the Maharashtra government to quickly clean the plastic waste in the sewage canal next to the Vidyavihar station in Mumbai. He said that even though the central government had undertaken the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan in 2014 to fix the waste management of the country, it was not entirely successful. Therefore, only the government will take initiatives common people should also come forward to stop using plastic and develop proper waste management.

Dr. Ramachandram, Director, KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, prof Gert Morschek, University of Rostock, Germany, Misuzu Asari, Board Member, Japan Society of Materials Science and CRC Mohanty, Environment Program Coordinator, United Nations Center for Regional Development, among others spoke in the discussion.