NEW DELHI: Less than one-third of the municipal solid waste generated in the 97 cities and towns along Ganga is processed, posing a major challenge to clean the river.

The urban affairs ministry has proposed to focus on segregating wet and dry waste to deal with the crisis rather than waiting for new waste processing plants to be ready.

The ministry recently shared the details of the sold waste generated in these cities during a presentation before water resources and Ganga rejuvenation minister Nitin Gadkari . According to the ministry data, about 11,625 tonnes of solid waste is generated from cities and towns along the river.

West Bengal has the maximum share of generating about 6,132 tonnes of waste per day, more than half of the total municipal refuse. UP has the second highest share of 3,275 tonnes of garbage generated daily while Bihar generates about 15% of the total solid waste.

Data show that West Bengal has been lagging behind in comparison to other four states through which Ganga passes. The state government is yet to prepare the detailed project reports for processing 4,884 tonnes of garbage while the existing plants can treat only 653 tonnes of municipal waste per day.

The urban affairs ministry has proposed decentralised composting of wet waste in these cities and towns, which will take care of about 40-60% of the total municipal refuse generated daily.

