International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
A Case Study of Solid Waste Management in
Mysore City
Javeriya Siddiqui1, Dr. Govind Pandey2, and Dr. Sania Akhtar3
1
P. G. Student (Environmental Engineering), Department of Civil Engineering,
M. M. M. Engineering College, Gorakhpur- 273 010, (U. P.)
2
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering,
M. M. M. Engineering College, Gorakhpur- 273 010, (U. P.)
3
Deputy Director, Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology,
Mysore (Karnataka)
ABSTRACT
Municipal solid waste management has become a serious problem because of rapid urbanisation and improved economic
activities. Increased attention has been given by the government in recent years to handle this problem in a safe and hygienic
manner. Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in India is a system which consists of regulatory, administrative,
technology, market, and social subcomponents. Planning for urban solid waste management requires an appraisal of many
complex interactions among land use patterns, transportation systems, public health considerations, and urban growth and
development. The insufficient collection and inappropriate disposal of solid wastes represent a source of water, land and air
pollution, and pose risks to human health and environment. This paper contains the details about waste collection scheme,
present status of solid waste management and sanitary landfill in Mysore city. It is concluded that the implementation of a
sustainable municipal solid waste management in Mysore city along with environment friendly management of plastic waste
should be taken up while encouraging people’s participation as well.
1. INTRODUCTION
Rapid industrialization and population explosion in India has led to the migration of people from villages to cities, which
generate thousands of tonne of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) daily. The MSW amount is expected to increase
significantly in the near future as the country strives to attain an industrialized nation status by the year 2020 (Sharma
and Shah, 2005; CPCB, 2004; Shekdar et al., 1992). Poor collection and inadequate transportation are responsible for the
accumulation of MSW at every nook and corner. The management of MSW is going through a critical phase, due to the
unavailability of suitable facilities to treat and dispose of the larger amount of MSW generated daily in metropolitan
cities. Unscientific disposal causes an adverse impact on all components of the environment and human health (Rathi,
2006; Sharholy et al., 2005; Ray et al., 2005; Jha et al., 2003; Kansal, 2002; Kansal et al., 1998; Singh and Singh, 1998;
Gupta et al., 1998). Solid wastes arise from human and animal activities that are normally discarded as useless or
unwanted. In other words, solid wastes may be defined as the organic and inorganic waste materials produced by various
activities of the society and which have lost their value to the first user. As the result of rapid increase in production and
consumption, urban society rejects and generates solid material regularly, which leads to considerable increase in the
volume of waste generated from several sources such as, domestic wastes, commercial wastes, institutional wastes and
industrial wastes of most diverse categories. Management of solid waste may be defined as that discipline associated with
the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes in a manner,
that is, in accordance with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics, and other
environmental considerations.
2. CATEGORIES OF SOLID WASTE
The solid wastes are generated from various sources as given in Table 1. The generation of municipal solid wastes takes
place from residential, commercial, institutional and industrial sources, which are listed in Table 2.
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
3. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MYSORE CITY
Mysore is the third-largest city in the state of Karnataka, India. Located at the base of the Chamundi Hills about 146 km
south west of the state capital Bangalore, it is spread across an area of 128.42 km2. According to the provisional results of
the 2011 national census of India, the population of Mysore is 887,446. The total population of Urban Agglomeration
(U/A) is 9, 83, 893. It is the Second biggest U/A in terms of Population. Mysore City Corporation (MCC) is responsible
for the civic administration of the city, which is also the headquarters of the Mysore district and the Mysore division.
Tourism is the major industry in Mysore. The city attracted about 3.15 million tourists in 2010. Mysore has traditionally
been home to industries such as weaving, sandalwood carving, bronze work and the production of lime and salt. The city
profile of Mysore is given in Table 3.
The quantity of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in Mysore city is given in Table 4.
3.1 Waste Collection Scheme in the City
The municipal solid waste collection in the city includes door to door collection, street sweeping activity and secondary
collection and transportation.
3.1.1 Primary Collection (Door to Door Collection of Solid Waste)
This scheme is implemented in all 65 wards of the city. Out of all the 65 wards, 62 wards are handled by contract
labourers, while the other 3 wards are handled by federation of Mysore City Wards Parliament. There are 240 auto tippers
and 396 pushcarts deployed for the collection of waste. Chicken and mutton market waste are being collected separately
by 5 auto tippers and 1 canter.
3.1.2 Street Sweeping Activity
In Mysore city, 17 wards are handled by MCC permanent Pourakarmikas, 1 ward by federation of Mysore City Wards
Parliament (W-28), and 47 wards are handled by contract labourers. The cleaning of streets and drains takes place during
day time while the truck mounted street sweeping machine is used for night sweeping of main roads.
3.1.3 Secondary Collection and Transportation
For the collection of waste from 65 municipal corporation wards, 255 numbers of single compartment containers and 130
numbers of 4 compartments 4.5 cum containers are placed in all the wards. For the collection of bulk waste from
markets/choultry/hotels etc., 66 numbers of 4.5 cum Skip Containers are placed in all 65 wards. For the transportation of
Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2013
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
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Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
secondary collected wastes, 20 numbers of Dumper Placers and 2 numbers of Compactors are used. For the transportation of
street sweeping waste and silt, 55 numbers of Tipper Lorries are used by MCC. All SWM vehicles in MCC are monitored
through GPS system.
3.2 Treatment and Disposal of Solid Waste
A 200-250 tonne capacity compost plant is located near Vidyaranyapuram. This was established in 2001 under ADB project
and is out-sourced to M/s IL and FS Company for Operation and Management on PPP basis. Lease rent and royalty of Rs.6
lakh/annum to MCC was paid. 30–35 metric tonne of manure is produced per day from this compost plant, out of which 5%
of manure and 20% of carbon is credited to MCC. Deploying auto tippers collects 5 tons per day (TPD) of Non vegetarian
and slaughter waste separately which is disposed by deep burial in Kesare. This is a chain link process, which is monitored
through GPS. 5 TPD of Market fresh vegetables, fruits waste is generated in the city, which is transported to Pinjrapore
Society for feeding stray cattles. Bulk waste generators such as hotels, hostels, choultries etc. generate 2 TPD of kitchen
waste. This waste is being used to feed the biogas plant which is located in Mysore zoo. About 20 TPD of waste is being
handled in 4 Zero waste management plants, which are located in 4 zones of MCC. The remaining waste is dumped in the
capping area where bio-culture is sprayed on day to day basis.
3.3 Measures Taken For Nuisances
In the waste collection, processing and disposal, foul smell and accidental burning of the waste are the major problems,
which can be handled by adopting the following measures:
a. To reduce the smell, a barricade of about 8 m is erected around the compost plant
b. To avoid accidental burning of waste, the accumulated waste of about 4 lakh cum is capped.
c. 6700 saplings are planted around entire sewage farm to reduce the smell emanating from the compost plant.
d. Non vegetarian and slaughter waste is collected separately by deploying auto tippers and is disposed by deep
burial in Kesare. This chain link process is monitored through GPS.
4. PRESENT STATUS OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MYSORE CITY
In Mysore, 402 tonnes of waste is generated per day, which is managed by sending it to five different places which are as
follows:
a. 200 tonnes of waste per day is sent to centralised compost plant by mechanical methods. Here, the waste is
decomposed aerobically by windrows compost.
b. 25 tonnes of waste is sent to 5 Zero Waste Management (ZWM) plants manually. These ZWM plants are located
in five different zones (zone 1, 2, 3, 5, 6) each having a capacity of 5 tonnes. Here also, aerobic composting takes
place.
c. About 5 tonnes of waste, which is which is fresh market waste is sent to Pinjrapole Society where the waste is
handled to feed the stray cattle’s.
d. Nearly 2 tonnes of animal waste is collected from butcher shops and slaughter houses. This kind of waste is buried
deep in the ground.
e. The rest of the waste is simply stored in containers and is lately sent to the capping areas.
The rejects from the compost plant and zero waste management plants are sent to the landfill site. The landfill in Mysore
city is a sanitary landfill. (Siddiqui, 2013).
5. SANITARY LANDFILL
The site overview and development of sanitary landfill are summarized here.
5.1 Site Overview
As mentioned in Table 3, municipal solid waste generation of Mysore city is 402 TPD. All this waste is brought to a
Dumpsite situated at Vidyaranigapuram. Dumpsite is about 8 km away from main city. This site is being used for
dumping from last 6–7 years which has accumulated waste of about 2, 50,000 cum, which will have to be either cut,
moved and then compacted with proper stability. This site is being used for dumping of waste, sewage treatment plant
and for composting. Composting plant is situated in 5 acres of area. Area used for waste dumping is 41.47 acres. A Nala
runs across the site along N-S direction. Water depth of this water body is about 1.5-2 m. The treated sewage from the
STP is left into the Nala for farming. Leachate from waste piles must be contaminating the running water in Nala.
The cleared area is to be used for developing sanitary landfill. The sanitary landfill will be properly lined at the bottom,
according to Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.
5.2 Development of Sanitary Landfill
After clearing waste from east side of the Nala in Area ‘4’, the area reclaimed can be used for developing sanitary
landfill. The first cell of landfill will last for 5 years. The landfill will be constructed according to Municipal Solid Waste
(Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. These areas will have proper lining at the bottom thus will restrict entry of
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
treated sewage from sewage treatment ponds if any. The Sanitary landfill has the following components; namely, landfill
base, daily cover and closure.
5.2.1 Landfill Base
The landfill base has the following components:
a. Subgrade of Required Slope: A well dressed subgrade provides a firm foundation for the subsequent layers of the
landfill base. Subgrade should be dressed to a level where it can provide intimate contact with the superseding layer.
This means that the subgrade should provide a uniform surface free from protrusions. Subgrade should be provided
the slope required for easy drainage of leachate. As there is a possibility of subsoil water, its level is to be determined
to finalise the level of subbase.
b. Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL): This layer is provided with the twin objectives of seepage control as well as gas
migration control. The basic requirements of GCL liner are that it should have permeability below a specified limit
and that this should be maintained during the design life. This is the best alternative material against natural clay
commonly used as low permeability amended soil liners.
c. HDPE Liner: HDPE liners are impermeable in nature, used for avoiding leachate percolation. Their inherent
characteristics are thinness, light weight, good quality control, ease of installation and general cost effectiveness in
comparison to natural soil materials. They also have the characteristics of being very unforgiving in their installation
procedures thereby requiring constant vigilance via construction quality control and construction quality assurance.
According to Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, both, compacted clay liners of
minimum 900 mm thickness and HDPE liner of minimum 1.5 mm thickness have to be provided on site.
d. Leachate Collection Layer (gravel with HDPE pipes): Drainage layer, 200 mm thick, constituting gravel 20- 40
mm in size will be laid over the HDPE liner to enable effective drainage of leachate. The drainage layer also houses
the HDPE leachate collection pipes which collect leachate and transport to sumps outside. The leachate thus collected
has to be treated appropriately and then disposed off.
e. Cover Soil: 300mm thick loose soil layer is spread as a protection layer.
5.2.2 Daily Cover Soil
At the end of each day’s operations, the waste has to be covered with a layer of daily cover soil. Daily cover soil should be
typically 100 to 150mm thick, made of loosely placed soil, pleasing and uniform appearance, to allow leachate to pass and
gas to be extracted, and should prevent perched condition or preferential paths. Daily cover soil occupies approximately
10% of the volume of waste.
Since all the inert wastes are covered daily, it does not attract any birds and other stray animals. There will also be no foul
odour, thus making the sanitary landfill as an ideal process of municipal solid waste management. After the completion of
the landfill the closure will be provided.
6. CONCLUSION
Mysore is said to be the second cleanest city in India. It is observed that people of Mysore are concerned about the
cleanliness of the city and, generally they do not throw the waste on the road side. Waste is collected from houses daily.
However, nothing is done specifically for the plastic waste management in Mysore. Mixed waste is collected and is simply
dumped in the landfills.
Thus it is realized that there is a need to take up a sustainable municipal solid waste management plan in Mysore city.
Efforts should be made for the segregation and suitable processing and disposal and the possibilities of energy recovery
from waste should also be explored. Recognizing the potential of greenhouse gas generation from sanitary landfills, it
may be worthwhile to segregate the inert materials for dumping and plastic waste for recycling while planning energy
recovery from biodegradable waste through the application of anaerobic treatment systems.
It is observed that, now few organisations, schools, and colleges are trying to spread the awareness about waste
segregation by keeping dustbin of two colours one for dry waste and another one for wet waste. It is also felt that separate
collection of bulk waste is very important and, therefore, construction debris must be collected separately. In order to
ensure the success of municipal solid waste management strategies, people’s participation must be encouraged. Major
challenge with plastic waste management is that different types of plastic wastes are mixed, which is very difficult to
separate, Secondly, plastic sachets with metallic layer are very common nowadays, which are a major challenge to deal
with. So, an environment friendly plastic waste management plan must also be implemented forthwith.
REFERENCES
[1] Sharma, S., Shah, K.W., (2005), ‘Generation and disposal of solid waste in Hoshangabad’, In: Book of Proceedings
of the Second International Congress of Chemistry and Environment, Indore, India, pp. 749–751.
[2] Shekdar, A. V., Krshnawamy, K. N., Tikekar, V. G., Bhide, A. D., (1992), ‘Indian urban solid waste management
systems – jaded systems in need of resource augmentation. Journal of Waste Management 12 (4), 379–387.
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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
Volume 2, Issue 11, November 2013
ISSN 2319 - 4847
[3] Rathi, S., (2006). Alternative approaches for better municipal solid waste management in Mumbai, India. Journal of
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AUTHORS
Miss Javeriya Siddiqui has received her Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from Integral University,
Lucknow in 2011 followed by M.Tech. Environmental Engineering degree from Madan Mohan Malaviya
Engineering College (Affiliated to Gautam Buddh Technical University), Gorakhpur in 2013.
Dr. Govind Pandey received his B.Sc. (Engg.) degree in Civil Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University,
Aligarh in 1986 followed by M. E. (Civil) degree from University of Gorakhpur, Gorakhpur in 1988. He
completed his Ph. D. in Environmental Engineering from I. I. T. Roorkee, Roorkee as Q. I. P. Research
Scholar in 2002. He is a Life Fellow of The Institution of Engineers (India) and Life Member of Indian
Society for Technical Education. He has 25 years of experience in teaching and research and has published many papers
in reputed journals and conferences. He is also a Reviewer of Journal of Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste of
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCCE).
Dr. Sania Akhtar has received all her education at IIT Kharagpur. She completed her M.sc. (chemistry), after
that she did M.Tech. and Ph.D. in Rubber Technology. She did Post Doctoral Research work for 4 years in
USA on ‘High performance, high strength plastics blends and composites’. Thereafter, she worked at the
National Chemical Laboratory, Pune for 2 years and then joined Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and
Technology (CIPET). She has published 25 research papers in international journals and is the author of 3
European Patents. She is a certified ISO and NABL auditor. She also gives consultancy on Application Development
issues in the field of plastics as well as on ISO 17025 for laboratory management systems.
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