Present Scenario of Municipal Solid Waste Management System in Bardhaman Municipality, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Barddhaman Municipality is one of the fastest developing Municipalities in West Bengal with a population of 314265 and population density 11949 in 2011. The population growth rate of this Municipality is 10.04% from 2001 to 2011. This Municipality has around 71618 houses which generate 153.48 M.T of solid waste per day. Among the basic essential services Solid waste management service is provided by local government to keep cities clean and hygienic. Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is one of the major environmental problems of Barddhaman Municipality which is located in the South eastern part of Purba Bardhaman district and many administrative Headquarters of the district is situated within this Municipality. Improper management of municipal solid waste (MSW) causes various problems to inhabitants. The incentive of this study is to bring awareness and improve the public participation in present solid waste management services. Thus, in order to propose any suitable measures for the improvements of the city's solid waste management conditions and reduce the potential problems of the city, it is very important to make a situational analysis of the current conditions. The study about Municipal solid waste management of Barddhaman Municipality has been carried out to evaluate the current status and to identify the major problems of solid waste system by using GIS technique. The main problems are open drain and open dumping of solid waste without recycling, which resulted in environmental pollution for this Municipality. The study has been concluded with some fruitful suggestions which may be beneficial to municipal authority and researcher for further research.