Risk assessment due to municipal solid waste dumpsites and geo-environmental measures for closure

Abstract

Open dumping of solid waste can cause various environmental and human health issues. Various literatures have reported groundwater contamination, bad smell and surface water contamination etc. due to presence of dumpsites. Planning of rehabilitation and closure of dumpsites will require risk assessment through various routes due to presence of municipal solid waste (MSW) dumpsites. In present study, some existing systems are modified by including some parameters derived from literature. The improved system is proposed to assess groundwater, surface water and odour risk indices. The study results better efficiency in determining risk index due to groundwater contamination, surface water contamination and air contamination. The system evaluates the scores from 0-1,000. The improved system is applied to two dumpsites from Prayagraj City and suitable geo – environmental measures for closure is determined based on risk indices values.