State must immediately formulate action plan to solve the issue: Pollution Board

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has indicted Maharashtra for generating the highest amount of solid waste in the country.

According to the 38-page CPCB report, the State generates a staggering 26,820 tonnes of solid waste per day (TPD), way more than any other State, including Karnataka . Of this, a mere 4,700 TPD was being treated.

The report, an action plan to counter the rapidly accruing municipal solid waste piling across Indian cities, was prepared in urgent response to a National Green Tribunal directive which asked the CPCB to submit “an independent comment in relation to formulation of a national policy” on the collection and disposal of solid waste. While 70 cities have an estimated waste generation between 100-500 TPD, the urban pockets of Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, heaving under the stench and piles of trash, are the major contributors of municipal waste far exceeding the figure of 500 TPD.

Uttar Pradesh comes next to Maharashtra, generating 19,190 TPD solid waste while managing to treat barely a fourth of its trash.