Hazardous waste: special reference to municipal solid waste management

Detection of traces of toxic chemicals in drinking water supplies, in polar ice caps, groundwater sources and episodes such as those in Minamata Bay, Japan and Love Canal, USA have focussed the attention of the public worldwide on the risks posed by the inappropriate disposal of hazardous waste and accidental release of toxic chemicals into the environment. In India regulations to control and manage air and water related pollution were in place as early as 1974 and 1981 when the Water Act and Air Acts, were respectively, introduced in country. However, the concern and need to manage the hazardous waste generated in the country in a scientific manner was felt only in the mid-eighties after the occurrence of the (in) famous Bhopal gas tragedy on 2/3 December 1984. The Government’s attention was then drawn towards environmental damage and the casualties that hazardous chemical substances and toxic wastes can cause. In order to cover the environment in toto, the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) enacted an umbrella act i.e., the Environment (Protection) Act in 1986. Subsequent to this Act, in order to prevent indiscriminate disposal of hazardous waste, the MoEF promulgated the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules in 1989, and efforts to inventorise hazardous waste generation were initiated. Though the hazardous waste rules were introduced in 1989, the response towards their implementation has remained very poor. Also, due to the liberalised policy the pace of industrialisation has been accelerated, which has resulted in increasing amounts of hazardous wastes every year. This along with a growing amount of municipal solid waste due to rapid urbanisation and hospital waste due inadequate policy and technological measures continues to remain a daunting issue of environmental concern to India.