Title: solid waste disposal and its impacts on environment

- A case study on Amin Bazar landfilling area.

Problem statement:
Local governments of both the developed and developing countries are concerned with the
environmental consequences of solid waste disposal. Until recently in the developing country
like Bangladesh the collection and disposal of solid waste was taken as one sided responsibility
on the part of the municipal authorities burdened with financial & management problems.
Municipal solid waste (MSW) has become a serious problem in many developing countries,
especially in the urban areas of large and rapid growing cities. Dhaka, the capital city of
Bangladesh is facing serious problem with urban solid waste management. Presently an
estimated 7,000 tons of MSW is generated daily in the Dhaka City of which only 1200–1500
tons is disposed in the landfills and the rest left unattended or locally dumped. (Hasan M. R,
Tetsuob K. and Islam S. A, 2009)

Among the various types of solid waste disposal method land filling got popularity in our
country. Landfill is the final functional element of a solid waste management system. It has taken
the bottom of the hierarchy of all options for waste disposal. Along with other waste disposal
option such as, recycling, combustion (incineration) and composting, landfill is the most
preferred option, because of its easy operation, low cost, less technological involvement and
comfort of implementation.

Having a lot of advantages of land filling it has many disadvantages also. It has many adverse
impact on our environment such as ground water depletion, soil contamination, creation of bad
odor, etc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill, retrieved on 1st July, 2010).

In Dhaka city among the land filling areas Amin Bazar is the second modern sanitary land filling
area. It is fulfilling the demand of waste disposal into land filling of Dhaka city satisfactorily. As
it is a land filling area it also has adverse impact on the area and surrounding areas also.

Justification of the study:

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh is presently considered as 22nd largest city in terms of
population & rapidly turning into a mega city. Solid waste management (SWM) in Bangladesh is
a function of the municipality & Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) is the municipal authority of the
capital city. Collection & disposal of solid wastes in the DCC area is of 360 sq. km (Hasnat M A,
2004). From a small city of only 336 thousand populations in 1951, it is now a mega city of over
10 million people- more than thirty times increases in just fifty (50) years time (Islam, 2001).
The average annual growth rate of Dhaka city’s population during the last three decades has been
over 7%, thus doubling the population in every decade (Islam, 2001).
Growing urban population means growing solid wastes. As the population is increasing the
amount of solid waste is also increasing. So the problems of land filling area also increase with
these growing populations. So in the implementation period steps should need to be taken to
reduce as if possible remove the existing problems. As this study’s aim is to find out the existing
problems it will help to take necessary steps by the land filling project authority and the
government also.

Aims and Objectives:

• To express the existing condition of the land filling area.

• To identify the adverse impacts on the area and on the surrounding area also.

• To propose some possible solutions.

Scope of the study:

This research will concern and focus the existing impacts and possible threats of the land filling
of the Amin Bazar land filling area. To achieve the objectives various environmental laboratory
test will done such as soil test, water test, etc. It will not focus on the future impacts of the area.
To reduce the existing problems some possible solutions would be provided in this study.

Description of the study:

As study area Amin Bazar land filling area is selected to do this research work. Amin Bazar is
situated on the both sides of the Dhaka- Aricha Highway and right after Gabtoli, Dhaka.

Methodology:
This study is concerned about the environment and land filling surrounding areas of Amin Bazar
land filling area. So site visiting and sample collection of soil and water will be done in the initial
stage of the study. After collection of sample they will be carried to the laboratory to know about
the existing condition of them by comparing with the standard. Objectives of this study will be
achieved by comparing and by analyzing the collected data and information. At last based on the
analysis and outcomes some possible solution would be given. Questionnaire survey will be held
to get the opinions of the local people.
Conceptualization:
To start the study correctly and to go ahead to the finishing smoothly conceptualization is
necessary. It leads a researcher to gain a clear conception and understanding and to choose the
right path to the start the research work. This study is based on land filling so related study such
as concept of land filling, proper way of operation of land filling, its adverse impact and
considerations will help to enhance the knowledge and conception. To enrich the conception
related research papers, journals, book, thesis will be followed.

Literature review:

To have a proper knowledge on land filling and environmental standards literature review is
important for this study. To get a clear conception on land filling such as land filling, operation
of land filling, impacts, alternatives, etc have followed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill
. Existing condition of land filling in Dhaka and the demand of land filling is reviewed from
Hasana R. M., Tetsuob K., and Islam S. A., 2009. “Landfill demand and allocation for municipal
solid waste disposal in Dhaka city—an assessment in a GIS environment” , Journal of Civil
Engineering (IEB), 37 (2) (2009) 133-149.

Data collection:
Data collection is another root of any research work. Data collection for this study includes
primary and secondary data. Primary data includes- questionnaire survey, visit and observatio of
study area, etc. To have a proper scenic idea about the existing condition of the study area,
questionnaire survey is the appropriate way. Questionnaire survey and interviewing people is the
best way to collect primary data.
Secondary data includes- land area, previous records, population growth rate, laboratory reports,
etc. these will be collected from the city corporation, pourashava, laboratory and various
literature sources.
Collection of Maps and satellite images:
This study requires maps of the study area, layout plan of the project area, satellite images and
photographic images. This will help to find out the lacking and adverse impacts and also to give
appropriate recommendations.

Data Analysis:
Collected data will have to analyze in a proper way. Collected data will be further analyzed by
using different software such as SPSS, excel, GIS, etc.
Recommendations:
Finding out recommendations is one of the objectives of the study. It is the last stage of the
research work. Recommendation will be provide after analyzing the collected data and the out
put of the analysis. Recommendations will be used to reduce the adverse impact of the land
filling project.

Flow chart of Methodology:

Problem identification

Objective fixation

Literature Review

Preparation for field work

Data collection and

field survey
Primary data Secondary data

Data Analysis

Findings

Report Preparation

Figure: Flow diagram of the methodology

Expected Outcomes:
Nowadays environment pollution is a common phenomenon. Dhaka city is in an alarming
situation. In this situation reducing of all occurring pollution from any point and non point source
is mandatory. This study will done to get some following outcomes-
• Existing condition of the land filling area.
• The adverse impacts on the area and on the surrounding areas.
• Some appropriate solutions and recommendations.

Time schedule:
Activities Required time period
Literature review Minimum 1 week
Collection of data 2 weeks
Data analysis and prepare the whole task Minimum 1 month
Total - At least 2 month

Conclusion:
Now-a-days it is the talk of the topic that the environmental condition of Dhaka is becoming
most horrible day by day. Dhaka is losing its environmental balance and it is stepping towards an
unlivable situation. Environment pollution and population growth in an alarming rate is the main
cause of this worst situation. To maintain the environmental balance and to keep a clean city
waste management is necessary and land filling is an efficient way of management. But land
filling should be done properly and exactly. Other wise it will create adverse impact to the
environment.
References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill, accessed on 29th june, 2010.

Hasana R. M., Tetsuob K., and Islamc S. A., 2009. “Landfill demand and allocation for
municipal solid waste disposal in Dhaka city—an assessment in a GIS environment” ,
Journal of Civil Engineering (IEB), 37 (2) (2009) 133-149.
Islam, N (2001), “Overcoming Governance Crisis in Dhaka City” Dhaka, The University Press
Limited, Bangladesh.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Bangladesh
%3A+Second+modern+sanitary+landfill+at+AminBazar+awaits...-a0184311396). accessed on
30th june, 2010.

http://www.ejnet.org/landfills accessed on 29th june, 2010