In Delhi, 3 private firms handle solid waste: AG Enviro Infra Projects Private Ltd, Delhi Waste Management Ltd, and Metro Waste Handling Ltd. These firms take care of half the city's solid waste, and operate in 6 out of 12 districts.

CLAIR MACDOUGALL follows the trash, and trucks, handled by one of private firms.

WHAT NEXT?
Anil Prakash, director-in-chief, Environment Management Services, MCD says civic body plans to improve waste management system by:
* Privatising solid waste management services in remaining 6 zones
* Introducing door-to-door garbage collection
*Implementing a privatised recycling system
* Increasing use of biodegradable waste for composting
* Creating public awareness about waste disposal, recycling, and segregation at home.

STEP 1
Delhi produces 6,000-6,5000 metric tonnes of solid waste every day. After garbage collectors take away the trash, it is often sorted through by waste-pickers, rummaging for plastics and other recyclables. Recycling is still a largely informal process and segregation of recyclable and non-recyclable materials is still a rarity, says Anil Prakash. Reason: "Lack of education and awareness", Prakash says.

According to an Environment and Forest ministry Notification in 2000, the municipality is responsible for organising awareness programmes on recycling and segregation of waste.

STEP 2
Waste taken by residents, or garbage collectors and ragpickers to enclosed company run 'dhallaos' (waste storage depots) in the neighbourhood — large bins and containers. Once there, solid waste is manually separated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable material. Some biodegradable waste is later taken to be composted at the landfill; and, still later, used by MCD.

STEP 3
Small, closed-body trucks take the trash from bins in waste depots to landfill sites. AG Enviro, though, transports waste to a large 'transfer depot', for large trucks cannot travel speedily within congested Paharganj and Karol Bagh where the firm operates. At 'transfer depot', garbage is tipped into a compaction unit using hooklift loaders. It is then compacted into large containers, loaded onto trucks, and carried by larger trucks to the landfill.

From there, the firm shifts the waste to the landfill at Bhalaswa. The other private companies transport waste from dhallaos directly to landfills, in Okhla (south Delhi) and Ghazipur (east Delhi, on UP border).

STEP 4
Bhalasawa landfill. The garbage is dumped, untreated. For AG Enviro, this process occurs continuously — throughout the day and night. The journey from dhallaos to landfill takes approximately 5 hours.

Newsline approached 3 Paharganj residents, selected at random, with 2 questions:

* What happens to the garbage after it leaves your home?
* Do you segregate waste within your house?

The person employed by the company comes to my house at 8 am to collect the waste. I do not know what happens to the garbage after that. I do not separate my waste.

NANDAJI MAJHI
Housewife

The garbage goes to a dhalao, where it is separated. I do not know where the garbage goes. We don't separate it in the house; the wastepicker separates it.

BHAWNA RAWAT
Student, Class X

I have no idea. It goes in the dustbin… somebody picks it up. I do not segregate the waste.