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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN BANGLADESH A STUDY ON
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN CHITTAGONG
Mohammed Rafiqul Alam, FCMA
Mir Hossain Sohel
Mr. Mohammed Rafiqul Alam FCMA, Former Chairman, CBC of ICMAB & Senior Accounts Officer, Chittagong Port Authority and Mir Hossain Sohel, Lecturer,
Department of Marketing, University of Chittagong.
Abstract : Bangladesh is a densely populated country in the third world facing myriads of problems with the
growth of population. The increased population leads to the growth of urban areas and slums which, in turn,
generating a huge volume of waste. A large proportion of the waste is not properly managed and dumped in
unplanned sites that are creating severe environmental hazards. The study aims at exploring the present method
of solid waste management in Chittagong. In order to conduct the research, both primary and secondary data has
been used. This paper highlights the status of waste generation and its management. Finally it suggests some
guidelines in the way of proper waste management.
Keywords : Waste, management, solid waste management system.
1. Introduction
Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) encompasses
planning, engineering, organization, administration, financial
and legal aspects of activities associated with generation,
storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and
disposal of municipal solid wastes (household garbage and
rubbish, street sweepings, construction debris, sanitation
residues etc.) in an environmentally compatible manner
adopting principles of economy, aesthetics, energy and
conservation (Tchobanoglous et al, 1993). The explosion in
urban population is changing the nature of solid waste
management in developing countries from mainly a low
priority, localized issue to an internationally pervasive social
problem.
Bangladesh, the worlds seventh highest populated country
with population of 147.36 million (July 2006 est.) (Wikipedia
2007) and one of the fastest urbanizing countries, is a land of
physical, climatic, geographic, ecological, social, cultural and
linguistic diversity. At present there are 522 urban centers in
the country including 254 municipalities and 6 City
Corporations (BBS, 1997 and NILG, 2002). With over 3.3%
annual growth in urban population in Bangladesh during
1991-2001 census years, solid waste generation has
also increased proportionately with the growth of urban
population. As such, most of the urban local bodies are finding
it difficult to keep pace with the demand for adequate solid
waste management and conservancy services provided by the
urban local bodies. Banhgladesh has achieved multifaceted
socio economic progress during the last 36 years of its
independence. However, in spite of heavy expenditure by the
Civic bodies, the present level of service in many urban areas is
so low that there is a threat to the public health in particular
and the environmental quality in general.
Management of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) continues to
remain one of the most neglected areas of urban development
in Bangladesh. The 06 metro cities and pourashavas in
Bangladesh generate about 13,332 tonnes (Sinha, 2006) of
such wastes per day. Piles of Garbage and wastes of all kinds
littered everywhere have become common sight in our urban
life. Magnitude and density of urban population in Bangladesh
is increasing rapidly and consequently the Civic bodies are
facing considerable difficulties in providing adequate services
such as supply of water, electricity, roads, education and public
sanitation, including MSWM. Municipal agencies spend about
10-15% of their budget on MSWM. In spite of such heavy
expenditure, the present level of service in many urban areas is
so low that there is a threat to the public health in particular
and the environmental quality in general.
At present, the existing solid waste management system in
Bangladesh not well organized and hence not serving the
proper solution of the problem. However, efforts are under way
to improve the solid waste management system in different
cities/towns. The researchers have observed a gap between
the existing SWM system and SWM system should be to
redeem the problems occurring due to the existing improper
SWM system. This research gap has created a proclivity among
the researchers to conduct a research on the subjected topics.
2. Objectives
The objectives of the study are
To explore the present status of municipal solid waste
generation and its management in Chittagong.
To identify the existing solid waste management system.
To recommend a schematic SWM Model in order to
improve the present waste management system.
3. Methodology
Both primary and secondary data have been used in
conducting the study. Primary data have been collected by
applying qualitative technique like depth interview and
personal contact approach. Total sample respondents are 60.
Data have been collected purposively from different
respondents group like city corporation employees,
housewives, garbage collectors (tokais & scavengers). Their
opinion has been collected to get an insight into existing
waste management system. Their suggestion has also been
considered in the study. Secondary data have been collected
through pursuing different reports of city corporation, web
materials, various articles, journals and books.
4. A Brief History Of Chittagong City, Uneven
Urbanization and Impact on Solid Waste Management
Chittagong is the second largest city in Bangladesh, covering
an area of 200 km
2
and with the population estimated to be
3.65 million (UNDP, 2004). It is situated on the bank of Karnaphuli
River, approximately 260 kilometers south of the nation's capital of
Dhaka. The city began to grow as a tiny municipality in 1863 with
a population of 25,000. It was reconstituted as & municipality
on the 15th July, 1864. Till 1898 the town was full of ditches,
t i dal canal s and j ungl es.
Most of the roads were unpaved and muddy. Today the city
serves as a commercial center for the whole country. Around 40% of
Bangladesh` s heavy industrial activities are located in Chittagong
and the surrounding areas, as well as an international airport, the
largest sea-port, universities, colleges, TV and radio stations,
hospitals, museums, botanical and zoological gardens, a beach,
stadium, and many other civic and recreational spots are also
available.
Now the city is experiencing rapid urban growth which has
resulted in a lot of problems, including high c-hild and maternal
mortality rates, un-planned growth, unemployment, environmen--
tal pollution, absence of a solid waste manage-ment, unplanned
hill cutting, lack of sewerage system, water logging, restricted
power and water supply, lack of civic facilities and amenities
and t-raffic congestion.
4.1. Urbanization and Solid Waste Management
In case of Chittagong City, urbanization has been taking place
in three ways:
1.Area expansion
2.Population growth. &
3.Rural to urban Migration
And 3rd of the above factors was very much contributed to
Chittagong City's population growth significantly. Chittagong
is growing at a rate of 4.5%, where more than 60% of the city
dwellers are migrants from neighboring districts, who are attracted
perceived as better living conditions and opportunities in the
urban area.
Table 1: Urbanization and Urban Population Growth in Bangladesh and
Chittagong
Bangladesh Chittagong
Year Total Urban Percent of Urban Average Annual Total Urban
Population Population Growth rate (%) Population
1951 1819773 4.33 1.69 145,777
1961 2640726 5.19 3.75 171,389
1974 6273602 8.78 6.62 416,733
1981 13535963 15.54 10.63 1,025,846
1991 20872204 20.15 5.43 1,392,860
2001* 28808477 23.39 3.27
2004** 3,652,802
2025
Source: BBS 1997,*BBS, 2001, ** UNDP 2004
This comparative study indicates that 1951-61 base year to
1974-81 the population of Chittagong has steadily increasing
with a significant growth rate of 7.64%. This high rate was
mainly attributed to the migration of a large number of
people from different part of the country for obtaining job,
education & business opportunities just after the creation of
Bangladesh in 1971. Again Chittagong City's population figure
increased from 10,25,846 in 1981 to 1392860 in 1991 showing
an average increase in urban population at a growth rate of
3.11% and this growth rate is increasing gradually. According
to UNDP report 2004, the population of Chittagong City
Corporation was 3,652,802. By 2006 the estimated population
of Chittagong City Corporation was 6 million (Wikipedia, 2007)
At present, the existing living condition in Chittagong is
characterized by a rapid population increase, severe housing
shortage, unplanned road networks resulting in incessant
traffic jams, general overcrowding, and large heaps of refuse
dotting different parts of the city.
4.2. Status of Waste Generation in Chittagong
Generally, waste generation is a part of every human activity,
occurs due to wrongly structured production and
consumption patterns. Therefore, population constitutes a vital
component of urban solid waste management and disposal.
The 1991 base population census figure for Chittagong City
Corporation stood at 1,392,860 and the nationally adopted
average annual growth rate is 3.3% for urban areas (BBS 1991).
The population of Chittagong city Corporation was 3.65
million as at 2004 (UNDP Report, 2004). With this rapid
population growth rate, it becomes more difficult to efficiently
manage solid waste where population is not taken into
consideration, as in Chittagong.
Table 2: Waste generation in Chittagong city
City / Town Chittagong WGR* (Kg/Cap/Day) 0.48
No. of City/Town 01
Total Population (2005) 2,383,725 Total waste generation (Ton/Day)
Population** (2005) 2,622,098 Dry Season 1258.61
Avg. TWG*** (Ton/Day) 1548.09 Wet Season 1837.57
*WGR Waste Generation rate
** Including 10% increase for floating population.
*** TWG Total waste generation which increases 46% in wet season from dry
season.
Source: Chittagong city corporation
4.3. Characteristics of solid Wastes
In urban Bangladesh, solid wastes are originated from
residential houses, street sweeping, commercial, industrial and
other sources. These includes dust, ash, vegetable and animal
bones, putrescible matter, paper and packing of all kinds, rags
and other torn fabrics, garment materials (wastes)
glass and many other non-combustible trash. These wastes are
often thrown into and / or dumped and piled up roadside or
corner dustbins, vacant spaces near markets, road intersections
and other such areas.
Table - 3: Approximate composition of solid wastes (% by weight) in
Bangladesh, compared with India and Europe
Waste Components Bangladesh* India Europe Chittagong**
Food & Vegetable wastes 70 75 30 67.65
Paper Products 4 2 27 9.73
Plastics 5 1 3 5.10
Rags - 3 3 2.50
Metals 0.13 0.1 7 0.26
Glass & Ceramics 0.25 0.2 11 1.13
Wood 0.16 - - 0.80
Garden Wastes 11 - 4~5 3.40
Others(Stones, dirt etc) 5 7 3 8.79
Medicine & Chemical - - - 0.64
Moisture content 65 22~32 15~35 60
Source: Cairncross and Feachem, 1993; *IFRD and BCSIR, 1998,**Field survey
The composition of solid waste in Bangladesh includes organic
food waste, paper and paper products, wood, metal, glass,
plastics including hospital waste, construction waste,
industrial; waste, dust, firewood and others. According to
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) statistics nearly 46% of the
city solid waste is generated from residential area, 18% and
23% from commercial and industrial area respectively, and the
rest from hospitals and clinics. This figure is differed from
different towns and from different areas in the same town.
Table - 3 summarizes and compares typical composition of
solid waste from developing and industrialized countries.
5. Legal Framework for Solid Waste Management
At present there is no separate policy or handling rules for
solid waste management in Bangladesh. However, Ministry of
Environment and Forest is currently preparing a
comprehensive solid waste management handling rules for
the country. The existing legal aspects relating to solid waste
management can be classified into two groups, which are
given below:
a) National Level Framework
Environment Conservation Act, 1995 requires that before
establishment of industrial enterprise as well as undertaking of
projects environmental aspects must be given due
consideration and prior environmental clearance is obtained.
As such, for the purpose of environmental clearance, the
Environment Conservation Rules 1997 made under the Act.
Apart from Environment Conservation Rules 1997, to improve
the waste disposal system the Government has recently
formulated some policies and plans, which are:
National Environmental Management Action Plan (NEMAP)
has been prepared for a 10-year period (1995-2005), by the
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) of the Government
of Bangladesh in consultation with people from all walks of life
(GoB, 1995).
Urban Management Policy Statement, 1998, prepared by the
Government of Bangladesh has clearly recommended the
municipalities for privatization of services as well as giving
priority to facilities for slum dwellers including provision of
water supply, sanitation and solid waste disposal (GoB, 1998a).
National Policy for Water Supply and Sanitation 1998 prepared
by the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local
Government Rural Development & Cooperatives gives special
emphasis on participation of private sector and NGOs in water
supply and sanitation in urban areas through proper collection
of wastes, use and recycling.
National Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Strategy 2004
prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF)
has identified waste sector as one of the potential sectors for
attracting CDM finance in the country. The waste sector
options for Bangladesh can be landfill gas recovery,
composting, poultry waste, and human excreta management
using eco-sanitation and wastewater treatment.
b) Local Level Legal Framework
In Bangladesh, solid waste management is entrusted with
urban local government bodies. The responsibility of removal
and disposal of municipal solid waste lies with the City
Corporations and municipalities. The six City Corporation
Ordinances and Pourshava Ordinance 1977 are the only local
law that gives some idea about disposal of municipal waste.
These ordinances contain identical provisions relating to solid
waste management, which are as follows:
The pourshava or city corporation shall be responsible for
sanitation of the municipality/city corporation area and for
the control of environmental pollution.
A pourashava or city corporation shall make adequate
arrangements for removal of refuse from all public streets,
public latrines, urinals, drains, and all buildings and land
vested in the pourshava or city corporation and for
collection and proper disposal of such waste.
Subject to the general control and supervision of the
pourashava/city corporation, the occupiers of all other
Households, shops and
establishments
Organic/food
waste
Deposit in hand
cart/tri -cycle
Temporary waste
storage depot
Compost plant
Domestic
hazardous waste
Special bin for
hazardous was te
Secured landfill
Recyclable waste
Handover to rag
picker i.e., street
hawkers, Tokai,
and scavenger etc.
NGO/Cooperative
middleman/traders
Wholesalers
Recycling Industry
Market
Community
bin container
Final product.
Market Landfill
Site and construction
& demolition waste
Fill low -lying area or
use as cover material
at landfill sites
Rejects
Market/stre
et waste
Street
sweeping/collection
by CCC authority
Household/
commercial
waste generation
Waste storage
Temporary storage at
the source of generation
Waste collection
1. Community
bin system
2. Demountable
container
3. House-to-
house collection
(community
initiative)
Waste transportation
Open truck collection
Demountable truck
Tractors & Trailers
Waste for land
dumping by
CCC authority
Housewives recover
refuse of higher market
value and sell them to
street hawkers
Tokais collect different
items of low market value
from waste collection bins
Dump
pickers
Recycling
Dealers
Separate materials
in proper form
Intermediate processing
like washing, drying and
sorting
Appropriate
processing
factories
Scavengers salvaging when
municipal trucks unload fresh
refuse
Waste to
unauthorized
dumnsites
Chief Conservancy Officer (CCO)
Conservancy Officer (CO)
Assistant Conservancy Officer (ACO)
Conservancy Inspectors (CI)
Cleaners and swepers
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28 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008
buildings and land shall be responsible for removal of refuse
from such buildings and lands.
The poursahava/city corporation may, and if so required by
the governments shall provide public bins or other
receptacles at suitable places and by public notice, require
that all refuse accumulating in any premise or land shall be
deposited by the owner or occupier of such premises or
land in designated bins or receptacles.
All refuse removed and collected by staff of pourashava/city
corporation or under their control and supervision and all
refuse deposited in the bins and other receptacles
provided by the poursahava/city corporation shall be the
property of the pourashava/city corporation.
A pourashava/city corporation shall provide adequate
public drains in the municipality/city area and all such
drains shall be constructed, maintained, kept cleared, and
emptied with due regard to health and convenience of the
public.
6. Institutional Arrangement for Solid Waste
Management In Bangladesh
Presently, the solid waste management system in Bangladesh
in not well organized. However, efforts are under way to
improve the organizational structure for solid waste
management in different cities/towns. For instance, Dhaka City
Corporation has recently established a Solid Waste
Management Cell to improve the waste management services
in the city.
In most of the city corporations and municipalities there is no
separate department for solid waste management. Solid waste
management is organized and run by conservancy section of
the urban local bodies, whose prime responsibility is
maintenance of the sanitation system. The organizational
structure of conservancy section is shown in Figure- 1.
(Only in City Corporations)
Figure 1: Organizational Structure of Conservancy Section in Urban Local Bodies in
Bangladesh
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30 The Cost and Management, May-J une, 2008
The number of staff for conservancy varies from city to town
depending upon the size of the city and the workload. Some
of the cleaners and sweepers are hired on temporary basis.
Although, the organizational structure presented in Figure 1
deals with the collection and storage of waste as well as
street sweeping, separate department in the city
corporations and municipalities does transportation of
waste. The chief conservancy officer or the conservancy
officer in the pourasahavs has to coordinate with the
transport department to get the waste transferred from
collection points to designated waste disposal sites.
Generally in most of the urban local bodies have insufficient
number of staff involved in waste management activities. In
addition to the shortage of personnel, the staffs are
handicapped with relatively small amount of resources
available to them for management of solid waste in their
particular area of operation.
An elaborate system of solid waste management has evolved
over time in Chittagong city. The Chittagong City Corporation
(CCC) provides movable dustbins made of corrugated sheets
and fixed concrete bins all over the city for home and business
owners to dump the refuse. The city also employs cleaners
who collect the street sweeping and drain silts and deposit
those in the nearest bins. Vehicles then take those solid wastes
to designated landfills. In 1989, a system of nighttime, instead
of daytime, collection of refuse was introduced which is no
longer being followed.
The CCC has a large staff and developed an elaborate
supportive infrastructure for managing solid waste. It now
employs 1840 conservancy staff, most of whom are part--
timers and another 135 as supervisory staff. With an
estimated population of around 3.6 million, the city employs
little over half a person per 1,000 resident while 3-6 persons
are considered to be necessary for a satisfactory manual
system of solid waste management (UNCH, 1988). The Chief
Conservancy Officer heads the collection and disposal
activities, which is assisted by a transport department. The
supervisory staff uses 47 wireless sets, jeeps and motor cycles
for overseeing the work of the cleaners. It uses 94 special
lorry for hauling wastes.
The CCC spends between 14-17% of its budget for solid
waste management (CCC Budget, 2005-2006) compared to
20-40% for municipalities in developing countries (Yousuf,
1996). Given the estimated population of around 3.6 million
for the City, the CCC spends about Tk. 26 or little over US 50
cents per person for an entire year for
collecting and disposing of solid waste. This is no doubt a
very paltry sum.
CCC `s human concentration per household is 5. Its total no.
of word is 41. Generally 55 workers are employed in wards
those are in the metropolitan area. In rural side this figure is
less than 55.
Table-4: Solid Waste Management Chittagong City Corporation
Item Position
1 Production per day 1000-1200 M. Ton
2 Dumping per day 700-1000 M. Ton
3 Dumping place (02) 01 at Halishahar 5 acres, and other
is at Roufabad 16 acres
4 Number of workers engaged in
dumping and conservancy works 1840
5 Drain ( Small & Large) 440 km (approx), Pucca 840 nos
6 Dustbin Concrete 65 nos, Open 569 nos
94 (Covered + Uncovered)
7 Number of lorry / carriers 49 ~ Morning, 38~Afternoon, 7~
Night
8 Number of container 22 (approx)
9 Number of conservancy ward 24
10 Number of non-conservancy ward 17
Source: Chittagong city Corporation, 2004
It must be noted that solid waste management in Chittagong
city now encompasses collection of wastes from specific
locations, dumping of these in designated landfills, and
reclamation or resource recovery.
Table-5: CCC Waste Collection and Treatment
Latest year available 2006
Municipal waste collected 1000 tones 37600
Municipal waste land filled % 20 %
Municipal waste incinerated % 20 %
Municipal waste recycled/composted % 65 %
Source: CCC, 2006
CCC is collecting almost 60% of the Household Garbage in the
city (CCC, 2006) and at the same time Inorganic (Polythene,
Plastic, Metal, Iron, Silver, Aluminum, Paper Board/Hard Board
etc.) part of the garbage is being recycled by the concerned
industrial activities already developed in the city area. On the
other hand, the Organic Garbage is being used for producing
Organic Fertilizer through Composting and remaining hard
Garbage particles are being utilized for producing Firewood.
7. Present Management Practices
The present system of MSWM in Bangladesh can be depicted by
Figure 2. Waste generated at households is generally
accumulated in small containers (often plastic buckets). This
waste is not disposed off into community bin until sufficient
quantity of waste is accumulated. Containers used for
household storage of solid wastes are of many shapes and sizes,
and are fabricated from a variety of materials. The type of the
container generally reflects the economic status of its user (i.e.,
the waste generator). Waste segregation at source is not
practiced.
The community storage system is usually practiced in
Bangladesh. Individuals deposit their waste in bins located at
street corners at specific intervals. The containers generally are
constructed of metal, concrete, or a combination of the two.
Community storage may reduce the cost of waste collection, and
can minimize problems associated with lack of on site storage
space. However, unless these community storage arrangements
are conveniently located, householders tend to throw their wastes
into the roadside gutters for clearance by street sweeping crews.
Even where storage arrangements are conveniently located,
wastes tend to be strewn around the storage area, partly due to
indiscipline and partly as a result of scavenging of the wastes by
rag-pickers and stray animals. In a country like Bangladesh, where
cheap labor is available, the collection methods are labor
intensive and cheaper compared to mechanized collection. Due
to the absence of adequate storage capacity for the refuse
generated and poor discipline among the generators, the wastes
are continually dumped on the road.
To improve conservancy operations, authorities feel that the lack
of civic awareness among city residents is proving to be a major
hurdle to maintain the city clean. The problem is most acute in
slums and low and middle income group areas. It will be nearly
impossible for the civic body to provide better surroundings if
residents do not take efforts to deposit the waste into the bins
and stop the practice of throwing garbage on to the road. A
conservancy worker has to cover a certain area by a specific time.
If public are going to distribute garbage all along the road, the
conservancy worker cannot cover the complete area assigned for
him and some areas may not be covered on some days. Because
of these poor conditions for temporary storage of wastes, in some
areas NGOs have become involved in making arrangements for
waste collection from households leading to improvement in
local street cleanliness (Salequzzaman et al,1999).
Different types of vehicles are used for waste transportation.
However, the general-purpose open body trucks of 5 to 9 tones
capacity are in common use. In smaller ward areas, tricycle vans
are used. Mostly municipal vehicles transport the waste; though,
in some large towns, private vehicles are also hired to augment
the fleet size. The maintenance of the vehicles is carried out in the
general municipal workshop along with other municipal vehicles
where the municipal refuse vehicles receive the least priority.
Most of these workshops have facilities for minor repairs only.
Al though preventi ve mai ntenance i s
necessary to maintain collection fleet in proper operating
condition, neglect of preventive maintenance is a common
situation.
Commercial sector like shops, offices, hotels etc all use the
community waste bins and their wastes are also collected along
with the household wastes except in a rare number of commercial
complexes where they pay a negotiated fee to the Municipal
Authorities for collecting waste from their premises. Most of the
shops do not open before 9 am and so do not put out their waste
out until that time, which will be left mostly on the street until the
next day's collection. In short, even if there is regular collection
services wastes are always seen on the streets.
Several thousands of urban dwellers in Bangladesh, make their
living upon wastes in many small industries using plastics, tin
cans, bottles, bones, hair, leather, glass, metal etc recovered from
MSW. All metals, unsoiled paper, plastics, glass, cardboard etc are
readily marketable and hence recycled by householders
themselves or Rag-pickers. By the time waste reaches the
community bins, it contains every little in the way of recyclable
and consists mainly of vegetable / fruit peelings, scraps of soiled
paper and plastic, used toiletries etc. (Salequzzaman et al,1998).
The larger proportion of organic matter in MSW indicates the
desirability of biological processing of waste. Though composting
was a prevalent biological processing practice in Bangladesh, in
the past due to non-availability of adequate space in the urban
centers and poor segregation of wastes, composting has been
discontinued as a practice. Recently efforts are taken to
popularize waste segregation and Composting. Characteristics of
the Bangladeshi MSW bring out the fact that establishing
composting plants using the organic wastes as raw materials will
be a profit generating industry. It will also in turn, will create
income-generating opportunity for the hardcore poor segment of
the society (Sinha, 2006).
Most of times, the assigned places for throwing garbage on the
dustbins or whatever in many places of the cities are seen
remaining heaped high with garbage for days at a stretch. Most of
the time the carrying waste is dumped within the City
surrounded by residential area. Despite assurances from time to
time, garbage dumped sites within the City have not been moved
to outside the city. Even the present sites are hardly looked after and
the stench from these turns afoul the air of the surrounding
residential areas. People of these localities have been desperately
seeking deliverance from the odor and the filthy sights
(Salequzzaman et al. 1998).
In a majority of the urban centers, waste is being disposed of by
depositing the same in low-lying areas. The disposal sites are
selected on the basis of their closeness to the collection areas and
new disposal sites are normally identified only when the existing
ones are completely filled. In most cases, the waste is simply
dumped at such sites and, except in the metropolitan cities,
bulldozers are rarely used for compaction at the disposal site. Even
in these cities, they are used only for leveling of the deposited
waste. The incoming SW vehicles are not weighed and no specific
plan is followed while filling the dumpsites. Provisions for leachate
and gas control do not exist. A soil cover is rarely provided, except
at the time of closure of the site. Most of the disposal sites are
unfenced and the waste picking is commonly in vogue, posing
problems in the operation of the sites. Open firing of MSW at
disposal sites is most common, for reducing the volume of wastes
and also for easy rag-picking (Luis et al 1997).
7. Proposed National Plan for Mswm
Considering the present status of MSWM in the country, the
researchers has summarized in a flow chart as depicted in Figure
3, the elements of MSWM for Bangladesh. Some of the important
recommendations are:
Based on throwing wastes on streets a levy of administrative
charges can be imposed of from those who litter the streets.
Segregation of wastes at source to identify the recyclable
wastes.
Doorstep collection of wastes.
Sweeping streets on all days of the year.
Work norms for sweeping of streets so that no wastes are seen
piled up in the road corner specifically in market places.
Provision of litter bins at public places.
Abolition of open waste storage sites and collection so that the
leachate cant contaminate the air.
Conversion of organic wastes into compost.
Upgradation of existing dumpsites.
Siting, construction and operation of sanitary landfills.
Institutional strengthening and capacity building.
NGO participation in SWM practices.
Adequate personnel should be sanctioned according to the
growth rate of urbanization.
Public awareness strategy.
Financial strengthening of local bodies.
8. Conclusion:
The explosion in world population is changing the nature of solid
waste management from mainly a low priority, localized issue to
an internationally pervasive social problem. Risk to the public
health and environment due to solid waste in large metropolitan
areas are becoming intolerable. The paper has summarized the
salient features of the current scenario of
MSWM in Chittagong, Bangladesh and the future directions for
improving the situation.
Chittagong, Bangladesh currently is facing a municipal solid waste
dilemma, for which all elements of the society are responsible. The
community sensitization and public awareness is low. There is no
system of segregation of organic, inorganic and recyclable wastes
at household level. There is an adequate legal framework existing
in the country to address MSWM, what is causing its
implementation. In spite of a stringent legislation in place, open
dumping is the most wide spread form of waste disposal. The
possible reasons for poor implementation could be a
combination of social, technical, institutional and financial issues.
Public awareness, political will and public participation are
essential for the successful implementation of the legal provisions
and to have an integrated approach towards sustainable
management of municipal solid wastes in the country. K
References:
1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (1997). Bangladesh Population
Census 1991, Urban Area Report. Dhaka: Statistics Division, Ministry
of Planning, and Government of Bangladesh.
2. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2001) Population census 2001,
Preliminary Report Dhaka: Statistical division, Ministry of Planning.
3. Chittagong City Corporation Report 2006
4. Chittagong City Corporation Report - 2004
5. Cairncross, S. and Feachem, R.G. (1993) Environmental Health
Engineering in the Tropics: An introductory text, 2
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edition, John
Wiley & Sons, UK.
6. Human Development Reports, UNDP, 2004
7. IFRD and BCSIR (1998) Refuse Quality Assessment of Dhaka City
Corporations for Waste to Electrical Energy Project, The World Bank,
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, GOB, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
8. Luis F. Diaz, George M. Savage and Linda L.Eggerth (1997), "Managing
SolidWastes in developing Countries" Journal of
Waste Management, October 1997, pp 43- 45.
9. National Institute of Local Government and Local Government
Engineering Department, (2002), Pourashava Statistical Yearbook of
Bangladesh, 1998-99, NILG, Dhaka.
10. Salequzzaman, M., Murtaza, M.G. and Saroar, M. (1998) Evaluation
study on Municipal Solid Waste Management, Project in Khulna City,
PRODIPAN, Shaheb Bari Road, Khulna 9203, Bangladesh.
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Chittagong # People_and_ culture
12. Tchobanoglous G, Hilary Theisen, Samuel A. Vigil (1993) "Integrated
Solid waste Management - Engineering Principles and Management
Issues", McGraw Hill International Edition.
13. Yousuf T. B., (1996) Sustainability of Solid Waste Management
System of Dhaka City Corporation, A Masters Thesis, Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka.
Figure 2: Existing Municipal Solid waste management System
Figure 3: Proposed flow chart of Municipal
solid waste in Bangladesh