Events & Issues
New Delhi, 31 December 2020
Garbage Tax
ALARM, NOT PENALTY
By Dr.S.Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)
Greater Chennai Corporation announced Garbage
Tax a few days back to the surprise of all residents and gave another surprise
by withdrawing it within two days. The
object was to collect “user fee” from residents and commercial establishments
for removal of garbage. The roll-back is
instructed by the Chief Minister in response to representations from citizen
groups, traders and the public against the new tax. Understandable – elections
are approaching in Tamil Nadu.
This fee is based on the Centre’s Solid Waste
Management Rules 2016 issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and
Climate Change for 6th category of wastes after plastics, e-waste,
bio-medical, hazardous, construction and demolition wastes.
According to the Ministry’s estimate, 62 million
tonnes of waste is generated annually, 75 to 80% of the municipal waste gets collected,
but only 22 to 28% processed and treated.
By 2031, municipal solid waste is expected to grow to 165 million tonnes
and if untreated would occupy 1,240 hectares of land. The new rules, applicable
beyond municipal areas, are an essential component of Swachh Bharat Mission. Every
individual resident becomes responsible for disposal of wastes in the creation
of which he plays a major role. The rules authorise local bodies to decide user fees for
collection, disposal, and processing of waste from bulk generators and also
levy on them Spot Fine for littering and
non-segregation of wastes.
The fee proposed in Chennai is related to the
size and usage of buildings ranging from Rs.10 per month for a residential
building with built area up to 500 sq.ft and Rs.25 for
those with built area of 1,201 sq. ft. to 2,400 sq. ft. and Rs.100 for
those extending to over 2,401 sq. ft.
Commercial establishments, places of worship, and schools were to be
charged at a flat rate of Rs.500 per month. Garbage fee ranging from Rs. 5,000
to Rs. 20,000 for events held in public places except funerals and awareness
programmes of government were to be collected from organisers depending on the
number of participants.
The aborted attempt to levy user fee covered
littering public places, non-segregation of waste, burning of waste, and
dumping of garbage in water bodies for
which penalties were fixed anywhere between Rs.100 and Rs.5,000. No doubt, if
such a fee structure could be levied and collected, and proceeds go for the
purpose of removal and management of wastes, the city can move towards “Singara
Chennai” (Beautiful Chennai) – the dream of some politicians. According to some estimates, the tax could
fetch between Rs. 60 crore and 80 crore annually – the amount badly required by
the corporation to meet staff salary!
The Delhi Government introduced garbage fees
ranging from Rs.50 to 200 for domestic waste depending on the category of
locality. Temples were levied a fee of Rs. 2,000. New Delhi has earned the
reputation of being the third largest electronic waste generator after China
and USA. In Bangalore, garbage tax was
introduced in June last and door-to-door collection of fees is organised for
waste collection. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is collecting fees
for house collection of wastes. Plastic shredding machines are becoming common
in many places.
Garbology is the study of modern refuse and
trash as well as use of trash cans, compactors, and different types of trash
can liners. New types of wastes are generated as technology is progressing fast
and are waiting for disposal and in the interval posing a big challenge to
civic bodies. Electronic waste is a worldwide problem and new products like
plastic waste demands global research and action on its constructive use.
Called garbage, trash, rubbish or refuse,
waste material consists of things discarded by humans as of no use. It does not generally include bodily waste
products, liquid and gaseous waste, or toxic waste products. What was inside
the house, when thrown out of the house as useless becomes garbage. However, what is waste material for one
person may not be so for another and it may even be raw material for production
of some article for another.
Great artists know how to use even the skin
of groundnut and almond to produce beautiful drawings. Garbage is unused and
unusable wastes. By itself, it is not a problem. It is mixed garbage of
different types that is making segregation of waste a staggering problem. Waste
can be turned into wealth by proper utilisation. Left as created and dispersed
by waste generators, it is a challenge to health, hygiene, and purity of other
natural resources like land, air and water.
Global waste production is predicted to rise
by 70% by 2050 unless we take urgent action to arrest the growth. Giving this
estimate, the World Bank has said that 7.6 billion global population create 2
billion tonnes of waste per year. The US is the biggest generator of waste in
the world.
Copenhagen in Denmark has earned a name for
the most efficient garbage management where only 3 to 4 % of city’s waste ends
up in landfills. Trash is mostly incinerated and the process is used to
generate electricity. In many European
countries, waste tax is levied.
South Korea introduced a system in 1995 which
required people to pay for official bag to dispose of garbage. Singapore, known
for cleanliness, has adopted a common uniform fee for waste collection
according to the type of domestic premises. Bulky waste and garden waste are
treated separately.
In Australia, waste charges levied in some States
and territories are intended to encourage diversion of waste from landfill to
recycling. They are financial contributions collected from licensed waste
facilities for the quantum of wastes received. The system is actually opposite
of garbage tax which demands payment from waste generator to the collector.
China raises world’s largest quantum of
waste, but has no effective policy to handle or use the waste. It is still
continuing landfill method. Much of its waste flows into rivers. Its waste is
estimated to grow as double that of the US by 2030. It has banned foreign waste a couple of years
ago.
2016 rules in India mention about integration
of rag pickers, waste pickers and kabadiwalas
(scrap dealers) from informal sector to formal sector by the State governments.
Some States do recognise the useful role of rag pickers in waste collection by
making them part of the contract system introduced for garbage collection from
houses and establishments.
Waste management is an important aspect of
national environment policy. Already mountains of urban waste are before our
eyes blocking water bodies and causing floods in every rainy season. Positive people’s movements in many countries
have stimulated action on the part of authorities. Here in India, public interest and awareness to
environment-related issues like pollution, manual scavenging, sanitation, hygiene,
etc., are hopelessly low. People have to be woken up from their long slumber to
take initiative and leadership and insist on clean surrounding as a right. A
new tax like the Garbage Tax may act as an alarm and not penalty to awaken people
to realise how enormous is the filth they have produced.---INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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