Solid waste management initiatives in small towns - Lessons and implications - A WSP report

• Significant improvement in civic environment, though final health outcomes were not achieved due to absence of systems for safe and sanitary disposal.
• Reduced incidence of health hazards associated with ragpicking (especially in Suryapet and Panaji).
• Increased compliance with Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Rules 2000 (except disposal norms, which were not met).
• Improved system productivity as indicated by the negligible increase in staff or vehicles despite improved service levels.
• Income-generating opportunities for population living below the poverty line and ragpickers.
• Improved citizen confidence in city administration, in some cases resulting in improved tax collections.

Some important lessons that could be drawn from the case studies included:

• A need was identified for developing a reform program that was firmly grounded in the Solid Waste Management Initiatives in small towns.
• There was a potential in harnessing local resources and innovating through a bottom-up approach.
• There was a need for a supportive role to be played by state governments, which needed to guard against adopting a top-down prescriptive approach.
• There was a need for more active intervention in waste treatment and disposal that had tended to get neglected due to constraints existing at the local level.

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