A Comparative Study of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Three Major Cities of Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

Waste management is a big challenge in emerging countries like India. The purpose of this study is to determine the current condition of waste management in three main cities of Uttarakhand, namely Dehradun, Haridwar, and Rishikesh. Based on municipal solid waste generation, transportation, and disposal in these three important municipalities, a comparative study is conducted. During the current study, it was estimated that Dehradun generates about 350 metric tonnes of waste, Haridwar produces 126 metric tonnes of waste, and Rishikesh produces 60 metric tonnes of waste. After the collection of data, correlation is computed between the population and the waste generation in the three cities and it was concluded that the city with a large population generates maximum waste and poor waste management is found. Among the three cities Dehradun is found to worst in waste management and Rishikesh is much better in managing and handling the waste. There is scope of lot of improvement in all the three cities when it comes to management of waste. The open dumping ground is impacting the people and the environment near the site, thus all three municipalities are having trouble disposing of garbage