Brut wanted to find a solution to the waste problem in Indian cities. But, when we went to the country's cleanest city, we came back with more questions than answers.
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00:00Almost every city in India has one of these.
00:03Massive fire broke out at a landfill site in North Delhi.
00:06Fire at Kochi's waste treatment plant.
00:09Mega city Mumbai is rapidly running out of space to dump garbage.
00:13I wanted to find out if there is a solution to the problem of legacy dump sites in India
00:18and if there are challenges to that solution.
00:20And all the studies and searches led me to Indore.
00:24This commercial capital of the central state of Madhya Pradesh
00:27has been adjudged the cleanest city in India for the last 6 years.
00:33But we came back with more questions than answers.
00:57I will tell you whatever I get.
01:14The Indore government says their robust system of source segregation has been the game changer for the city.
01:20We got exclusive permission to have a first hand experience
01:24on how waste is collected, segregated and processed in the city.
01:28A government representative was assigned to accompany us at all times during the shoot.
01:54We get the waste from Nagarnigam.
01:58We put the waste in a bucket and fill it up.
02:02Then we use the second bucket.
02:04We use the old bucket to make a garden.
02:09So the waste doesn't go out?
02:11No, it doesn't.
02:12What was the changing factor in Indore?
02:17There are a lot of good officers in Nagarnigam.
02:21They supported the campaign.
02:25They are very disciplined.
02:27They start their work early in the morning.
02:29They do their job with full motivation.
02:33They support the people.
02:35They do a total collection.
02:37There are 6 types of segregation.
02:39After the segregation, the vehicles come here.
02:41This is the transfer station.
02:43There are 10 such transfer stations in Indore.
02:45The vehicle comes here first.
02:47It's way is here.
02:49It goes to the bank.
02:51It's way is here.
02:53It goes to the bank.
02:55It's way is here.
02:57It goes to the bank.
02:59It's way is here.
03:01It goes to the bank.
03:03It's way is here.
03:05It goes to the bank.
03:19What is this?
03:21It's a diaper.
03:23You are taking it out by hand.
03:25Don't you feel like doing it?
03:27I don't feel like doing it.
03:29You never feel like doing it?
03:31Are you used to it?
03:33I am used to it.
03:39From these transfer stations,
03:41the waste goes for processing.
03:43On a patch of land which was earlier
03:45part of their main dump site,
03:47the Indore government has set up two plants.
03:49One for recycling plastic
03:51and another to produce bio-CNG
03:53from wet waste.
03:55Before NEPRA,
03:57when NEPRA was not here,
03:59here was a big dredging ground.
04:01It was a huge dredging ground.
04:03The area was full of garbage.
04:05At that time,
04:07there were some female workers here
04:09who used to work on this dredging ground
04:11to run their house.
04:13NEPRA has basically given
04:15all these female workers
04:17or all the employment
04:19to them.
04:21They are given tasks like
04:23collecting plastic,
04:25collecting waste.
04:27It has changed a lot.
04:29Earlier, we used to work
04:31in the wet or dry areas.
04:33Earlier, we used to carry bags.
04:35Now, we feel good.
04:37We have got a lot of facilities.
04:53This biogas plant
04:55in Indore is touted
04:57to be Asia's largest.
04:59During its inauguration,
05:01PM's office promised that
05:0375 municipalities across India
05:05are slated to get such bio-CNG plants
05:07over the next two years.
05:09The renewable fuel
05:11from segregated wet waste
05:13is used to run city buses.
05:15Is there any amount of pollution
05:17that happens because of this process?
05:19One thing is that
05:21we are installing a recovery unit
05:23for CO2.
05:25For the waste that cannot be processed
05:27or recycled, the final destination
05:29in an ideal waste management system
05:31is a scientific landfill.
05:37Devgudadia on the edge of the city
05:39used to be a 100-acre open dump site
05:41and a ground for dumping all sorts
05:43of mixed waste.
05:45The land was reportedly reclaimed
05:47through a scientific process of legacy
05:49removal in 2018.
05:51A part of the dump site has now been turned
05:53into a garden, a part has been utilized
05:55for setting up the processing plants
05:57and the rest is used as a sanitary landfill
05:59or scientific landfill
06:01as per the Indore Municipal Corporation.
06:03This is where we were
06:05restricted from objectively filming.
06:19Do you want to see the plant?
06:21Or do you want to see this?
06:23I can take a drone shot of the plant.
06:25So you can only take a drone shot
06:27of the plant, right?
06:29Whatever it is, I have already told you.
06:31It is not even under our control.
06:33I will tell you the construction
06:35that is under our control.
06:37The many attempts to stop me
06:39from filming the landfill peaked
06:41my curiosity. When our team tried
06:43to take drone footage, our camera
06:45was forcefully seized without
06:47informing the reason.
06:49We repeatedly asked the Municipal Commissioner
06:51to respond to our query on why
06:53our footage was withheld.
06:55Before our visit to the landfill,
06:57she had told us this.
06:59It is not that we cleared one dump site
07:01and set up another dump site.
07:03In any solid waste management chain,
07:05the success of the successful model
07:07is seen only once.
07:09At the end of the day,
07:11how much waste are we sending
07:13to our scientific landfill site?
07:15The total waste generation
07:17of our landfill is only 4%.
07:19So in the future,
07:21it is our mandate to
07:23take it to zero.
07:25IAS officer and the
07:272018 Mayor, Ashish Singh
07:29had claimed he had led the charge
07:31of clearing the dump site
07:33through a scientific process to free up
07:35the land for the city forests
07:37and the processing plants.
07:39I looked up the Google Earth images
07:41since 2018, and we do see
07:43a change happening in the dump site area.
07:45Unfortunately, since we were
07:47not allowed to go inside the landfill
07:49or take drone footage,
07:51we couldn't point to exactly
07:53what the corporation was worried about.
07:55So we took our questions
07:57and doubts to environmental experts
07:59who have been researching Indore's
08:01waste management policy for years.
08:03From the evidence,
08:05from the data,
08:07evidence from the
08:09satellite imagery or the
08:11video you have just played,
08:13it is very, very difficult
08:15to...
08:17Apparently, it looks like some
08:19drain sills, which they have
08:21dug, right? Now, drain sills
08:23are again inert, so you can put drain sills,
08:25there's no harm.
08:27But the ground, whether it is lined
08:29or unlined, is very difficult unless
08:31we go and see it for ourselves.
08:33But Biswas said, questions on landfill
08:35shouldn't take away from what Indore
08:37has been able to achieve in comparison
08:39to other cities.
08:41Indore model, economically,
08:43financially,
08:45environmentally,
08:47way better. So they are already
08:49in the next level, even if they are putting
08:51some inerts here and there, right?
08:53I am going to give them that discount
08:55considering what they have achieved already.
08:57Right?
08:59They are generating humongous amount
09:01of revenue by producing 17 tonnes
09:03of CNG every day.
09:05There can be small holes here and there,
09:07even in the best practices.
09:09When you say best practices, the ideal
09:11word should be better practices.
09:19While we did find answers to whether
09:21there could be a solution to the big waste
09:23problem in Indian cities, we couldn't
09:25ascertain the sustainability of it.
09:27But researchers believe that cities like
09:29Indore is a great head start
09:31towards progress.