Integrated Solid Waste Management
in India—Implications from the Case
Study of Hunsur Municipality,
Karnataka
Khushbu K. Birawat, K. P. Ravikumar, Biswajit Debnath
and Sadhan Kumar Ghosh
Abstract The efficient management of solid waste in a city is laid on the foundation of proper planning and its implementation with active participation from the
government as well as the public. The urban local bodies (ULBs) are entrusted with
the responsibility of maintaining sanitary conditions in a city. In India, the integrated
solid waste management is getting pace and certainly is a very important step towards
resource efficiency and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG). Hunsur,
a City Municipal Council located in Mysore District of Karnataka, won the “Best
City for Solid Waste Management in the south zone”, in the Swachh Survekshan
2018. With this feather on the cap, Hunsur needs to be evaluated for further improvement and the best practices may be replicated in other parts of the country. The
current study aims to showcase the success story to the scientific community and
other stakeholders with a proper understanding of the current status of solid waste
management in Hunsur and the steps taken by the council to implement an efficient
solid waste management in the city. The study also analyses the system for a scope
of improvement in the existing solid waste management system from the perspective
of resource circulation and sustainability. While the global focus is on achieving the
SDGs, as one of the fastest growing economies, it is imperative for Indian citizens
to contribute towards the goals. The SDGs are not mutually exclusive, rather linked
together in a stochastic network system. With one such initiative, more than one goal
can be achieved, with the smallest units of the world embracing the path of efficient
solid waste management. Hence, this paper is an effort to bring forth the significance
of solid waste management in attaining SDG 2030 and how it embraces the concept
of a circular economy.
K. K. Birawat (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Global Academy of Technology, Bangalore, India
e-mail: khushbu.k.birawat@gmail.com
K. P. Ravikumar
City Municipal Council, Hunsur, Karnataka, India
B. Debnath
Department of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
S. K. Ghosh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_18
197
in India—Implications from the Case
Study of Hunsur Municipality,
Karnataka
Khushbu K. Birawat, K. P. Ravikumar, Biswajit Debnath
and Sadhan Kumar Ghosh
Abstract The efficient management of solid waste in a city is laid on the foundation of proper planning and its implementation with active participation from the
government as well as the public. The urban local bodies (ULBs) are entrusted with
the responsibility of maintaining sanitary conditions in a city. In India, the integrated
solid waste management is getting pace and certainly is a very important step towards
resource efficiency and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG). Hunsur,
a City Municipal Council located in Mysore District of Karnataka, won the “Best
City for Solid Waste Management in the south zone”, in the Swachh Survekshan
2018. With this feather on the cap, Hunsur needs to be evaluated for further improvement and the best practices may be replicated in other parts of the country. The
current study aims to showcase the success story to the scientific community and
other stakeholders with a proper understanding of the current status of solid waste
management in Hunsur and the steps taken by the council to implement an efficient
solid waste management in the city. The study also analyses the system for a scope
of improvement in the existing solid waste management system from the perspective
of resource circulation and sustainability. While the global focus is on achieving the
SDGs, as one of the fastest growing economies, it is imperative for Indian citizens
to contribute towards the goals. The SDGs are not mutually exclusive, rather linked
together in a stochastic network system. With one such initiative, more than one goal
can be achieved, with the smallest units of the world embracing the path of efficient
solid waste management. Hence, this paper is an effort to bring forth the significance
of solid waste management in attaining SDG 2030 and how it embraces the concept
of a circular economy.
K. K. Birawat (B)
Department of Civil Engineering, Global Academy of Technology, Bangalore, India
e-mail: khushbu.k.birawat@gmail.com
K. P. Ravikumar
City Municipal Council, Hunsur, Karnataka, India
B. Debnath
Department of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
S. K. Ghosh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. K. Ghosh (ed.), Solid Waste Policies and Strategies: Issues, Challenges
and Case Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1543-9_18
197