A Report on Solid Waste Management and Public Health in Ludhiana

This report analyzes solid waste management practices in Ludhiana, India, focusing on its impact on environmental health. It highlights the challenges of waste segregation, the burden on landfills, and the resulting health risks associated with improper waste disposal. The report references the Punjab Pollution Control Board's classification of waste and the importance of adhering to new solid waste management rules. It also discusses the generation of energy from solid waste and the potential for contamination of drinking water and the spread of infectious diseases. The report emphasizes the need for improved solid waste management to mitigate the negative impacts on public health and the environment. The presence of bio-medical waste is also highlighted, which is collected separately and incinerated due to its hazardous nature.

Introduction to Environmental Health 1
Introduction to Environmental Health
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Introduction to Environmental Health 2
Solid waste management is critical to the maintenance of clean urban surroundings
and proper management has a direct bearing on the health of city dwellers. Gaps in the
collection and disposal of solid waste can be detrimental to the health of people living in the
community. In the Indian state of Punjab where Ludhiana is located, the Punjab Pollution
Control Board classifies the waste into three categories, residential, commercial construction
and industrial (Envis.nic.in, 2016). This is in line with the new policy on solid waste
management of government of India (Sambyal, 2016). The waste is collected at a site in the
vicinity of the residential areas to be taken later to the landfills. In Ludhiana and in India as a
whole, the problem of handling a large magnitude of waste is difficult logistically. Most
people do not segregate waste into biodegradable, recyclable and non-biodegradable waste.
This means that the landfills are overburdened with waste that could be reduced if managed
better. Management of solid waste involves segregation at source and treatment of
biodegradable and recyclable waste that includes food waste, farm waste, paper and plastic.
Generation of energy from solid waste and methane from soon to be closed landfills can be
used as an important energy resource (Pandey & Malik, 2015).
Apart from this when solid waste is not picked up promptly from collection points
there is a risk of infectious diseases, drinking water can get contaminated due to the chemical
and biological wastes. Air around the landfills gets polluted and if waste is incinerated that
adds to the air pollution. Flies, mosquitoes, and rodents find a place to breed and these act as
vectors for several diseases. Growth of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in ill managed garbage
dumps is also high. A large part of the solid waste in Ludhiana is bio-medical waste from
hospitals and nursing homes which is collected by separate vehicles and most of the waste is
incinerated because it is particularly hazardous.

Introduction to Environmental Health 3
References
Envis.nic.in, 2016. /index2.aspx?slid=229&sublinkid=1133&langid=1&mid=1. [Online]
Available at: http://punenvis.nic.in/index2.aspx?
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[Accessed 2 September 2017].
Frumkin, H., 2016. Environmental Health. s.l.:Jossay-Bass.
Pandey, S. & Malik, J., 2015. Punjab-waste-management.pdf. [Online]
Available at: http://www.teriin.org/projects/green/pdf/Punjab-waste-management.pdf
[Accessed 2 September 2017].
Sambyal, S., 2016. /solid-waste-management-rules-2016-53443. [Online]
Available at: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/solid-waste-management-rules-2016-
53443
[Accessed 2 September 2017].