Evaluating financial aspects of municipal solid waste ...

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Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 13, Nos. 3/4, 2010

Evaluating financial aspects of municipal solid waste management in Mysore City, India Ishwar Chandra Yadav* Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 225001, UP, India Email: [email protected] *Corresponding author

Ningombam Linthoingambi Devi School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geoscience, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China Email: [email protected]

Surendra Singh Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 225001, UP, India Email: [email protected]

A.G. Devi Prasad Department of Studies in Environmental Science, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006 India Email: [email protected] Abstract: Majority of waste management plans are severely constrained by the lack of resources to finance these services. In developing countries, collection and transportation of waste are the most costly Solid Waste Management (SWM) activities. Safe disposal invariably receives less attention. Mysore City, one of the largest cities of Karnataka (India) with a population of around 0.8 million, is facing acute shortage of funds to run SWM activities. Present paper analyses the current financial aspects of Mysore City municipal SWM based on empirical studies as well as authentic data obtained from Mysore City Corporation (MCC). The study revealed that the financial allocation for SWM is inadequate and MCC is running in deficient finance. Keywords: MCC; Mysore City Corporation; expenditure; fiscal year; MSWM; municipal solid waste management; management and handling rules; pourakarmika; RWA; resident welfare association; KUIDP; Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Plan; SHG; self-help group.

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Evaluating financial aspects of MSWM

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Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Yadav, I.C., Devi, N.L., Singh, S. and Devi Prasad, A.G. (2010) ‘Evaluating financial aspects of municipal solid waste management in Mysore City, India,’ Int. J. Environmental Technology and Management, Vol. 13, Nos. 3/4, pp.302–310. Biographical notes: Ishwar Chandra Yadav did his MSc in Environmental Science (gold medallist) from University of Mysore, Mysore, India. Currently, he is pursuing his PhD on groundwater arsenic contamination in Terai, Nepal, at Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. His areas of interest are solid waste management, groundwater pollution and waste water treatment. Ningombam Linthoingambi Devi received her MSc in Environmental Science (gold medallist) from University of Mysore, Mysore, India. Presently, she is pursuing her PhD in Environmental Science at China University of Geosciences (CUG), Wuhan, China. Her areas of interest are problems of pesticide in atmosphere, solid waste and wastewater treatment. Surendra Singh is presently a Professor in Botany at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He specialises in microbial biotechnology, especially agriculture and environmental biotechnology. A.G. Devi Prasad is currently a Senior Assistant Professor of Environment Science at University of Mysore, Mysore, India. He specialises in conservation biology and waste management.

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Introduction

City waste management is important for public health and their well-being (Gupta et al., 1998; Kansal et al., 1998; Singh and Singh, 1998; Kansal, 2002; Jha et al., 2003; Ray et al., 2005; Sharholy et al., 2005; Rathi, 2006), and also on the sustainability of urban economies (Schubeler et al., 1996). Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) is mainly the responsibility of local governments and Urban Local Bodies (ULB) (Report of Indian Supreme Court’s Committee, 1999). In developing countries, it consumes 20–50% of municipal budgets (Goel, 2008). MSWM is a complex task depending upon organisation and cooperation between households, communities, private enterprises and municipal authorities, as well as on the selection and application of appropriate technologies related to waste collection, transportation, recycling and disposal (Goel, 2008). In developing countries, majority of the cities have inadequate waste management system. A great many people do not have access to a waste collection service, and only a part of the generated waste is actually collected (Schubeler et al., 1996; Diaz, 2009). From the environmental, economical and financial points of view, systems for transfer, recycling and disposal of solid waste are unsatisfactory (Schubeler et al., 1996). In a study (Green India 2047), the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI) reported that more than 25% of the total waste remains uncollected. Moreover, transportation and disposal of collected waste are also inadequate and unscientific (Das et al., 1998; TERI, 1998). Financial aspects of MSWM include budgeting, cost accounting, capital investment, cost recovery and cost reduction (Schubeler, 1997). Though they are essential for effective MSWM, effective methods of budgeting, cost accounting, financial monitoring and financial

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evaluation are rarely employed for Indian cities (Srivastava et al., 2005). Further, majority of the Indian cities do not have proper data on due budget for SWM (Kumar et al., 2009). Available information (provided by civic agency) indicates that only 5–25% of total municipal budget are spent on SWM (Kumar and Gaikwad, 2004). Main options for financing capital investment for MSWM include local budget resources, loans from financial intermediaries and special central government loans or grants. However, attempts should also be made to procure funds from the local resources. Main options for financing recurrent MSWM costs are user charges, local taxes and intergovernmental transfers. To achieve equitable service access, some degree of crosssubsidisation and financing out of general revenues is often needed. Fee collection of MSWM in India is poor (Kumar et al., 2009). Generally, collected revenues flow into a general municipal account, where they tend to be absorbed by overall expenditures. Political will and autonomous accounting procedures are required to ensure that MSWM revenues are employed for the intended purpose. Potential for increasing MSWM revenues is limited. Cost reduction principle (doing more with less) may be applied to improve financial sustainability. Palmer et al. (1997) studied three price-based policies, namely deposit/refunds, advance disposal fees and recycling subsidies for solid waste reduction, with deposit/refund as the most effective. Here, an attempt has been made to analyse the present financial situation of MSWM in Mysore City (India).

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Sources of income in Mysore City Corporation

The total investment for MSWM in Mysore City is funded through a combination of the following sources: •

funding under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM);

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from state government grants/loans;

•

Mysore City Corporation’s (MCC’s) own revenues, which include property tax (house tax), water tax, sewerage/drainage/conservancy tax, city cleaning tax, fees for granting building plans, advertisement through hoardings, rents from municipal properties, license fees from various trades and parking;

•

debt from banks and other financial institutions and

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from private sector/commercial capital.

The share of state government in the total capital receipts of MCC has been declining, i.e. from Rs. 283 million in the Fiscal Year 2002 (FY02) to Rs. 164.3 million in the Fiscal Year 2005 (FY05). But, share of financing institutions has increased from Rs. 77.1 million (FY02) to Rs. 155.8 million (FY05). The amount of grants/fund received from state government and financial institutions during various fiscal years is given in Table 1. However, capital expenditure for MCC remained almost constant during the fiscal year 2002–2005 (Table 2).

Evaluating financial aspects of MSWM Table 1

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Grants share of state government and financial institutions

Year FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005

Capital receipt (in Rs. millions) State government (grants and loans) Financing institutions 283.0 77.1 211.5 113.2 153.9 170.6 164.3 –

Total 360.1 324.7 324.5 320.1

Source: City Development Plan (2006) Table 2

MCC Capital expenditure MCC capital expenditure (in Rs. millions)

Year FY 2002

344.1

FY 2003

410.5

FY 2004

400.9

FY 2005

365.7

Source: City Development Plan (2006)

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Current SWM practice in Mysore City

The total quantity of municipal solid waste generated in Mysore City (from 65 wards) is about 220 tonnes per day. The MCC has placed about 3131 public dustbins; with collection efficiency nearly 80%. An aerobic composting plant has been set up under the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Plan (KUIDP) for treating this MSW. The compost generated is sold in reasonable price. The MCC does not have a scientific landfill as per MSW (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.

3.1 Primary collection At the time of data collection, 90 pushcarts have been deployed for collecting solid wastes from the wards. The total number of staff engaged in SWM activities in the city is given in Table 3. The service charges levied are in the range of Rs. 10–15 per month per house. Coordinating agencies for the door-to-door collection have been constituted from the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of the area. Ward committees and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) have taken the overall responsibility of primary collection in their respective ward. These agencies in turn employ Self-Help Groups (SHG) for door-to-door collection. This also helped local self-groups in earning income. Table 4 gives expenditure of equipment required for municipal staff for the sweeping activities estimated using the standard prescribed by state policy.

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Table 3 Sl. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Staff available for SWM Staffs Health Officer Dy. Health Officer Senior Health Inspector Junior Health Inspector Conservancy Defenders Pourakarmikas (PK) PKs on time and Grama Panchayath Drivers

Number 1 1 4 18 42 787 16 23

Source: MCC (2005) Table 4 Sl. no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Expenditure on SWM in Mysore City (Rs. in millions) Items Purchase of shoes, gum boots PK salary Contingencies Vehicle maintenance Fuel expenses Contract Purchase of heavy vehicles Construction of houses of PK Total

2003–2004 Actual 0.196 56.468 0.002 4.866 6.615 14.902 0.00 0.00 83.049

2004–2005 Revised 0.20 60.00 0.005 3.00 7.85 18.85 1.50 0.00 91.405

2005–2006 Budgeted 0.20 61.0 0.005 3.0 8.50 19.60 2.00 0.50 94.805

Source: Yadav and Devi (2009)

3.2 Secondary storage There were nearly 20 secondary storage bins placed at commercial areas of the city. Secondary storage bins (dumper bins) were transferred using dumper placers to the aerobic composting plant located at Vidyaranya Puram, about 6 km away from the city.

3.3 Transportation Solid wastes collected from different areas were transported to disposal site by tractors and mini-lorries with tipping mechanism and dumper placer. Collected SW was manually loaded onto vehicles by 5–6 pourakarmikas (sanitary workers). Following types of vehicle were used: •

21 tractor trailer with carrying capacity of three tonnes;

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truck (four MCC and 25 contractors); carrying capacity of 5 tonnes, and three trips by each vehicles and

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two dumper placers.

3.4 Treatment and disposal The centralised compost plant of the city has a capacity of handling 200 tons of waste per day. Another waste processing facility located at Kumbarakoppal can handle about 2 tons of waste per day. There was also a small vermicomposting facility at Mysore Zoo in the city.


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Expenditure on MSW management in Mysore City

The expenditure of the MCC on SWM has increased over the years. During the study period, it was Rs. 900 million (Table 5). The annual SWM budget was around Rs. 9 million, of which salary accounts for 64.1%, contracts account for 20.6% and fuel expenses accounts for 8.9% of the total costs. Further, 3.1% of the budget was spent on vehicle maintenance and 2.6% for provision for infrastructure. The cost of SWM at Mysore is Rs. 1193 per tonne of waste. The overall expenditure on SWM is given in Table 6. Table 5

Budget of MCC (Rs. in millions)

Items Opening balance Income Expenditure Closing balance

2003–2004 Actual 61.22 693.12 718.05 36.29

2004–2005 Revised 36.29 778.62 811.14 3.77

2005–2006 Budgeted 3.77 903.60 906.19 1.18

Source: Yadav and Devi (2009) Table 6

Tools required and investment on SW facilities

Sl. No. Items (A) For street sweeping 1 Handcarts with six bins 2 Long handle broom 3 Metal tray 4 Metal plate 5 Ghamela (B) For slums 1 No. of 40 l HDPE containers 2 No. of handcarts

Number

Cost per unit (in Rs.) Amount (in Rs.)

168 6720 1680 1680 336

6500 125 100 25 130 Total

1,092,000 840,000 168,000 42,000 43,680 2,185,680

937

225

210,825

6500 Total (C) 100 l litter bins 400 3100 (D) Primary collection vehicles for SHG (156 groups for non-slum households) 1 Handcarts with six bins 342 6500 2 Tricycle 177 15,500 3 Auto tipper 59 210,000 Total (E) Secondary storage containers and transportation 1 3m3 containers 100 49,500 2 4.5m3 containers 100 58,000 3 DP vehicle 15 1,039,500 Total (F) Construction of Platforms 200 5400 Grand Total Source: MCC (2005)

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195,000 405,825 1,240,000 2,223,000 2,743,500 12,390,000 17,356,500 4,950,000 5,800,000 15,592,500 26,342,500 1,080,000 39,932,255

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Strategies to improve financial situation

It is necessary for the municipalities to adopt strategies that meet MSW (M&H) Rule, 2000. Segregated collection should be introduced as part of the door-to-door collection system, with wet waste being collected daily in the morning and dry wastes being collected twice a week in the afternoon. Likewise, a combination of decentralised and centralised processing will also be helpful. The wastes, which cannot be composted or recycled, should be landfilled.

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Results and discussions

For effective management of solid wastes, infrastructure facilities for storing, transporting and dumping the wastes are needed. Generally, number of dustbins used for collecting wastes is inadequate. Moreover, their capacities vary from 540 to 1100 l, which is difficult to maintain (KUIDFC, 2003). One of the reasons behind poor management of solid waste in Indian cities is lack of adequate financial resources (Kumar, 2005). Financial effectiveness of MSWM systems is based on life cycle costs and long-term economic impacts. Therefore, financial valuation is an important input to the strategic planning and investment programming. In India, an SWM revolution is a need of the hour. The allocation of funds for MSW management in Mysore is inadequate (Yadav and Devi, 2009). Further, bulk of the financial allocations goes to salaries of staff and transportation. A little amount is available for the treatment and disposal of wastes (Yadav and Devi, 2009). Negligible amount of tax or user fee are charged from the residents of the cities. In India, the cost of treatment and disposal of hazardous and biomedical wastes is high, and often cannot be afforded by small-scale industries and smaller healthcare establishment (GOK, 2004). Mysore Municipal Corporation faces resource constraints, and is unable to bear the cost of collection, transportation and disposal of waste resulting in neglect of waste management. Besides, inappropriate design of treatment and disposal systems and poorly trained operator are other factors aggravating the problem in Mysore City. Treatment and disposal cost of unsegregated waste is more expensive compared to that of segregated waste. According to Karnataka Compost Development Corporation, composting of unsegregated waste needs 30% extra cost than the segregated waste (GOK, 2004). Thus, mixed waste coming from areas requires high investment. Only three authorised waste processing units are available in the Mysore City. A study indicates that the present system of MSWM in Mysore City is not satisfactory and requires implementation of MSW (M&H) Rule 2000 in an integrated manner (Yadav and Devi, 2009). Further, the corporation will have to adopt relatively better tax collection, property tax reform and utilisation of assets/land in an appropriate manner in order to generate revenue, by applying new cess/levies, such as solid-waste cess, impact fee for new development, parking revenues, etc. MCC should also encourage private participation. To improve the financial situation of MCC, the following recommendations should be implemented: •

the need to have accurate information on the sources and composition of industrial and commercial wastes including hazardous wastes;

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identification of priority areas;


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inter-se priority among obligatory services;

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improvement in property tax collection efficiencies and increase in property tax collections (Madon et al., 2004);

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continuous reviewing of the existing rate and charges;

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active involvement/participation of NGO/private sector in SWM activities;

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regular reviewing of establishment costs;

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adoption of Excellent Novel Radical’s (ExNoRa’s) zero waste management scheme (Colon and Fawcett, 2006);

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implementation of ‘polluter pays’ principle (Karagiannidis et al., 2008);

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implementation of ‘pay-as-you-throw’ scheme (Karagiannidis et al., 2008);

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policies should be introduced which encourage waste recovery and reuse;

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internalisation of the costs of waste management in the production and distribution phases and

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use of remote sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS) and mathematical optimisation methods for efficient allocation and utilisation of resources.

Acknowledgements The present work is a part of MSc dissertation of ICY. The authors are thankful to MCC staffs for providing relevant information.

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