Gujarat fails to treat 98% of municipal solid waste: Report

% of municipal solid waste treated per day

By Jag Jivan
At a time Gujarat government expectedly went in massively into Swachh Bharat campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Gandhi Jayanti day, facts have come to light which show that the state is the worst performer when it comes to treating municipal solid waste (MSW). A Planning Commission report, prepared in May 2014, has said that while Gujarat’s urban development authorities may be collecting most of the MSW – 7,378 out of 8,336 tonnes per day (TPD) – they are able to treat just 118 TPD, which comes to a mere 1.57 per cent of the total collection.

Interestingly, these figures find their place in the appendix of the report, with no explanation in the main body as to why Gujarat is such a poor performer.
This is particularly shocking, as it is way below the total municipal waste treated in the country, 28.4 per cent. About 1,33,760 TDP of municipal waste is generated in India, out of which 91,152 TDP is collected, and 25,882 TDP is treated. The Swachh Bharat campaign in Gujarat was launched by chief minister Anandiben Patel from Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace, Porbandar.

In Porbandar district, significantly, out of 1.25 lakh households, 52,483 households (38,673 in rural areas and 13,809 in urban areas) – or 42 per cent – do not have any toilet facilities within their premises, according the Census of India 2011 data, which means that majority of these people go in for open defecation, forcing manual scavenging upon Valmiki Dalits.
An inter-state comparison, on the basis of the data provided by the Planning Commission report, suggests that the urban areas of all major states, including the poorer ones, treat a much higher proportion of MSW than Gujarat. While Odisha performs the worst by treating just 1.25 per cent of the total 2,383 TPD of MSW generated, data for two “Bimaru” states have not been given (Uttar Pradesh and Bihar).

The states performing better than Gujarat are Jharkhand (which treats 1.59 per cent of 4,450 TPD), followed by Punjab (9.45 per cent of 3,853 TPD), Chhattisgarh (9.85 per cent of 1,896 TPD), Tamil Nadu (11.06 per cent of 14,532 TPD), Haryana (16.57 per cent of 3,490 TPD), and so on.
The best performer, according to the data released by the high profile report, is Andhra Pradesh, which treats a whopping 88.38 per cent of the total MSW generated (11,500 TPD). This is followed by Delhi, India’s national capital, which treats 33.33 per cent of the MSW (7,500 TPD) and Maharashtra 27.65 per cent of 17,000 TPD.

Significantly, the report was released about two years after the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation got involved in an ambitious task of implementing a “zero waste policy” under an agreement with the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. Signed in 2012, it seeks to achieve zero waste by 2031.
The report regrets that most of the MSW in India is dumped in “low lying urban areas” (in Ahmedabad, it is dumped near Pirana, across Sabarmati river, for instance, next to spot where huge slum ghettos exist), adding, it is a major cause of “unhygienic conditions” for the people living in the nearby areas. It believes, the reason for failure to treat MSW is “casual attitude of the citizens as well as the municipal authorities towards managing solid waste.”

The Task Force was chaired by K Kasturirangan, member, Planning Commission. Among other things, it recommends that it is necessary to minimize the wastes going into landfill of at least 75 per cent of MSW by processing it through “appropriate technologies.”

Metric tonnes municipal solid waste generated, collected and treated per day: Inter-state comparison

Comments

Dalit woman student’s death sparks allegations of institutional neglect in Himachal college

By A Representative A Dalit rights organisation has alleged severe caste- and gender-based institutional violence leading to the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman student at Government Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and has demanded arrests, resignations, and an independent inquiry into the case.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Domestic vote-bank politics 'behind official solidarity' with Bangladeshi Hindus

By Sandeep Pandey, Faisal Khan The Indian government has registered a protest with Bangladesh over the mob lynching of two Hindus—Deepu Chandra Das in Mymensingh and Amrit Mandal in Rajbari. In its communication, the government cited a report by the Association of Hindus, Buddhists and Christian Unity Council, which claims that more than 2,900 incidents of killings, arson, and land encroachments targeting minorities have taken place since the interim government assumed power in Bangladesh.

NYT: RSS 'infiltrates' institutions, 'drives' religious divide under Modi's leadership

By Jag Jivan A comprehensive New York Times investigation published on December 26, 2025, chronicles the rise of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — characterized as a far-right Hindu nationalist organization — from a shadowy group founded in 1925 to the world's largest right-wing force, marking its centenary in 2025 with unprecedented influence and mainstream acceptance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi , who joined the RSS as a young boy and later became a full-time campaigner before being deputized to its political wing in the 1980s, delivered his strongest public tribute to the group in his August 2025 Independence Day address. Speaking from the Red Fort , he called the RSS a "giant river" with dozens of streams touching every aspect of Indian life, praising its "service, dedication, organization, and unmatched discipline." The report describes how the RSS has deeply infiltrated India's institutions — government, courts, police, media, and academia — ...

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

2025 was not just a bad year—it was a moral failure, it normalised crisis

By Atanu Roy* The clock has struck midnight. 2025 has passed, and 2026 has arrived. Firecrackers were already bursting in celebration. If this is merely a ritual, like Deepavali, there is little to comment on. Otherwise, I find 2025 to have been a dismal year, weighed down by relentless odds—perhaps the worst year I have personally witnessed.

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Search This Blog