Solid Waste Management of Thoubal Municipality,

Manipur- A Case Study

Ch. Raghumani Singh and Mithra Dey

Department of Ecology & Environmental Science,
Assam University, Silchar-788011, India
environJaghu@yahoo.co.in
mithradey@gmail.com

More than 90% of municipal solid waste in India is

Abstract-Increase in population results in the generation of

more

quantity

of

waste

in

most

urban

areas.

directly disposed of on the land in an unsatisfactory manner

Improper

[3]. Open dumping of garbage facilitates the breeding for

management of the municipal solid waste (MSW) not only causes

environmental

pollution

but

also

creates

hazards

to

disease vectors such as flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats,

the

inhabitants and again affects the quality of life. Municipal bodies

and other pests [4]. Municipal solid waste management, like

are the responsible authority for the management activities of the

most of other infrastructural services has come under great

urban solid waste. The study was carried out within the Thoubal

stress, considering low priority areas, solid waste management

Municipality

was never taken up seriously either by public or by concerned

areas

of

Thoubal

District

situated

between

2436'44.184" N to 2441'13.031" N latitude and 9357'29.088"E

to 941 '30.551"E longitude. The objective of the study was to

agency or authorities and now the piled up waste is threatening

our health, environment and well being [5], [6].

determine the characterization of the waste and the current

system of management activities. The characterization showed

The annual waste generation increases in proportion to the

that organic composition of the waste has highest percentage of

rise in population and urbanization, and issues related to

60.08 % which is followed by the miscellaneous component with

a percentage of 15.69 %. Plastic and paper was the next highest
composition with 11.1 % and 6.06 % respectively and the least
was leather (0.01 %). This paper highlights an overview of the

disposal have become challenging as more land is needed for

the ultimate disposal of these solid wastes [7]. Poor collection
and

current municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system of

Thoubal

Municipality.

The

study

concludes

with

further

improvement

of

the

current

transportation

are

responsible

for

the

On the other, management of municipal solid waste is going

few

through a critical stage due to the unavailability of suitable

suggestions, which may be beneficial to the authorities to work

towards

inadequate

accumulation of the waste at every nook and corner of the city.

facilities for treatment and disposal of the large amount

management

generated daily in the urban areas.

systems.

Improper management of solid waste in most cities of

Keywords - Solid waste, composition, management,

characterization, Thoubal municipality.

developing countries leads to problems that impair human and

animal health and ultimately result in economic, environmental
and biological losses [8]. Therefore, the present study was
carried out in Thoubal Municipality of Thoubal District,

I.

Manipur to determine the existing management system and

INTRODUCTION

suggest suitable recommendations.

The solid waste problem has severed in urban areas

because of migration from rural areas at an alarming rate for

II.

want of employment and better quality of life. Improper

disposal of these solid wastes create environmental pollution

METHODOLOGY

The samples of the municipal solid waste were collected

and again affect the quality of life. The per capita of municipal

from

solid waste (MSW) generated daily, in India ranges from about

Achouba (T-2), Athokpam Makha (T-3), Wangmataba Parking

five

different

areas-

Disposal

site

(T-l),

Thoubal

100g in small towns to 500g in large towns [1]. The waste

(T-4) and Thoubal Khunou (T-5) representing disposal area,

quantities are estimated to increase from 46 million tons in

market,

2001 to 65 million tons in 2010 [2]. But the municipal solid

respectively.

waste

collection

efficiency

is

poor

in Indian

cities

and

income,

mixed

and

low

income

areas

The waste samples were collected from each sampling site

insanitary methods of disposal become a serious environmental

taking 10 grabs samples(to make 1 kg each) from different

and health concern.

978-1-4673-0178-7/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

high

areas of the waste heap at a particular sampling site and then

21

TABLE I:STAFF INVOLVED IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

mixed thoroughly to get a composite sample for each sampling

ACTIVITIES

location [9], [10]. The samples were then segregated in

different components. The contents of each component were

Catee;ory of Staff

weighted on wet weight basis and results were expressed in

percentage [11]. The average of weighted components of the

Male Health Supervisor

five sampling locations was calculated. The data for the study
is collected largely from the primary sources and also from the

Driver

Sanitary Inspector
Sweeper

secondary data. Data about municipal solid waste quantity,

collection frequency and vehicles used in transportation was

Total

Source_ Thoubal MUnlclpahty

collected from the municipality.

III.

Number
I
I
I
6
9

2)

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Segregation:

Segregation of waste is not practiced.

Wastes are mixed up. Even the biomedical wastes from the
district hospital are mixed up with the municipal wastes which

A.

Study Area

are thrown at the bank of the river Thoubal at thoubal

wangmataba parking area. In some sampling site electronic

The Thoubal district occupies the bigger portion of the

waste like CDs, CFL tubes, bulbs etc. are also seen mixed up
with the municipal wastes ..

eastern half of Manipur valley. It is bounded by five districts

all around it. The district has a total geographical area of 514

3) Storage: Proper storage system is not practiced here.

Sometimes household wastes are stored in polythene and

sq. km. with a population of 3, 64,140 and density of

population comes 708 persons per sq. km [12]. The district lies

plastic containers. Wastes are mixed and throw on the

roadside. Small and medium heaps of wastes are seen. There is

between 23045' N and 24045' N latitude and 93045' E and

94015' E longitude. Thoubal Municipal area is the District

no specific storage bins except few cemented bins at some

particular wards. Wastes are frequently burnt down.

headquarters of the Thoubal district.

The Thoubal municipal town is one of the fastest growing

4) Transportation: The wastes from the collection point

are manually loaded to the transporting vehicle. Tractor-trailer

towns ofManipur. It extends over an area of 11.50 sq. km. The

geographical extension of this municipality lies between
2436'44.184"
N
to
2441'13.031"
N
latitude
and

is used for the transportation of this waste. The vehicles are not
covered well. Sometimes wastes are spilled out from the

9357'29.088"E to 941'30.55l"E longitude. This municipality

comprises of 18 wards with a total population of 46194 heads

vehicle littering the road and also produce bad smell. The
collected wastes are transported to the disposal site. Only the

as per the 2001 census. The sanitary inspector looks after the
overall management activities of the waste. As per the

tractor is used to transport the waste. The vehicle travels nearly

2 km away to dispose the waste. Table II shows the no. of

information provided by the Thoubal municipality, nearly 1 ton

of waste is generated from the market area (Thoubal Bazar)

vehicles used for the transportation of waste.

only. No daily disposal is done here.

B.

TABLE II:TYPE OF VEHICLES AND TOTAL NUMBER FOR SOLD

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Present Status ofSolid Waste Management

1) Collection: In this municipality proper collection

system is not employed. Collection of waste is also not

Sl.

Types ofYehicle

Number

Tata Tipper

Tractor

JCB

No.

scientific. Collection and storage of waste is not done at

source. None of the NGOs in Thoubal are involved in the
collection and disposal of the waste. No door to door collection
system is practiced. Wastes are disposed off on the roadsides,
ditches and river banks. Some broken cemented bins are also
there in the market areas where the wastes are littering outside.

Total

But in few particular wards rectangular cemented bins are

used. There is no daily collection system. The collection is

3
Source. Thoubal Munlclpahty

5)

done once or twice a week depending upon the production and

Disposal:

The municipal solid waste is disposed by

direct open dumping and not by sanitary land-fill method.

Unauthorized dumping on the riverbanks, roadside, and ditches

accumulation of waste in the market areas. No regular street

sweeping is done. In the early morning the municipal sweepers
sweep the market only. The wastes are kept in heap near the

are seen. Individual person asked the municipal authority to

dump the market waste to their low-land areas. Unauthorized

road side. After 2-3 day the municipal workers collect it and
transported to disposal area. Table I shows number of staffs

dumping occurs at many places. Most of the people living in

this municipality have their enough spaces to dispose the
domestic waste produced from their houses. So the disposal of

involved in solid waste management activities.

22

their domestic wastes is done in their backyard. Hence there is

from

natural system of degradation. But the inhabitants near the

disposed here. Prior to this the municipality constructed a

river Thoubal used to throw the waste on the bank of this river.

sanitary landfill near the hill at Thoubal Khunou at a distance

Thoubal

bazar. Presently the

wastes

are randomly

The problem of disposal is facing by the people residing near

of nearly 3 km from Thoubal bazar. But it was fail due to land

the market area. The Thoubal municipality has its own land of

sliding.

26 acres for disposal at Thoubal Khunou which is 2 km away

management (MSWM) is presented in the Table III below.

The

present

status

of

municipal

solid

waste

TABLE III:
PRESENT SCENARIO OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OF THOUBAL MUNICIPALITY
Waste
Municipality

of

Area

Qty.

of

Collection

(TPD)

Type of collection

Transportation

Disposal

Bins/heap

House

MV

Open

ofSW

to

Disposal

MSW
Daily

Site
Weekly

PV

Incineration

Sanitary
Landfill

House
Thoubal

Municipality

(market

TPD- Tons per Day,

C.

ton

or

Manually

only).

MV- MUnicIpal VehIcle,

Constructed
previously

week

but

26

acres

(approx.)

not in use

PV- Pnvate VehIcle

from house to house by paying small amounts. Glass is also

Characterization of Waste

generated

more

from

high

and middle

income

groups.

The analysis of the data gives that organic waste is the

Biomedical waste shares 1.14 % among the composition. The

highest component (60.08 %) among the composition. So it

maximum percentage of this waste comes from the middle

will be a good source of manure on proper composting like

income groups. The reason is that District Hospital is near this

vermicomposting.

the

sampling site. Without segregating the hospital wastes are

miscellaneous (15.69 %). In miscellaneous earthen materials

randomly dump here which is also at the bank of the river

and

ashes

are

And

the

high. This

second

shows

that

highest
wastes

is
are

burnt

Thoubal. Leather shows the least percentage of 0.01 % only.

frequently. The third highest component is plastic (1Ll %)

Reason may be, there is no leather industry. Little amount of

which is followed by paper (6.06 %). This shows that

electronic waste are also associated in the municipal waste

recycling of these materials should be encouraged. The

which are generated from the high and middle income groups.

highest percentage of these materials is contributed from the

The percentage of the different components is shown in Table

middle and high income groups. It may be because of the

IV and Fig. 1 represents the same information in graphical

fashion of packed foods and easy handling. Other recyclables

way

like

glass

and

metals

contribute

2.65

and

0.59

respectively. The reason for the less percentage of metals may

be because of the waste scavengers that collect recyclables

TABLE IV:PHYSICAL COMPOSITION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE OF THOUBAL MUNICIPALITY IN WET WEIGHT BASIS
SI. No.

Category

Waste

Percentage weight of the refuse in different sampling sites

(in 2ram)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
a

b
c

Organic waste
Paper
Plastic
Glass
Metal
Leather
Rubber
Wood
Textile
Biomedical waste
E-Waste

Miscellaneous

T-l

T-2

T-3

T-4

T-5

Mean

58.88
9.72
12.61
2.73
0.95
0.04
0.7
2.34
2.12
1.28

68.48
7.08
10.84
0.2
0.12
0
0
0.84
1.54
0

43.8
5.64
20.36
4.16
0.8
0
0.17
0
1.87
4.4

70.86
2.67
3.4
0.5
0
0
0
0
0.2
0

60.08
6.06
11.1
2.65
0.59
0.01
0.26
0.82
1.37
1.14

0
8.54

0
10.89

58.38
5.18
8.31
5.67
1.07
0
0.32
0.94
1.12
0
0.51
18.5

0.67
18.13

0
22.37

0.24
15.69

BIOmedical Waste Includes synnges, blood stamed cotton, rv-set, needles, expired medlcme, gloves etc
E-waste includes computer key board, TV tubes and radios, tube light, bulbs, CFL lamps and CDs etc.

Miscellaneous includes earthen materials, stones, pebbles, constfilction wastes, ceramics and ashes etc.

23

Categories of Waste

Fig. 1
IV.
The

existing

Physical composition of municipal solid waste of Thoubal Municipality in percentage

[3].

CONCLUSION

management

system

and

the

Health,vol. 40,no.4, pp. 333-342,1998.

collection

[4].

facilities do not fit the present requirement. Frequency of

recyclables

should

be

encouraged.

The

concept

[5].

of

vermicomposting should be encouraged at the household level

[6].

(CPCB), "Management

of

B.M.

Chouhan

and

B.K.

Reddy, "Bio-energy

scenario

in

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A. Idris,B. Inane, M.N. Hassan, "Overview of waste disposal and

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and Waste Management, vol. 6, pp,104-110,2004.

encouraged. Involvement of private sector through NGOs

[8].

could improve the efficiency of current municipal solid waste

M.Sharholy,

K.Ahmad,

G.Mahmood

and

R.C.

Trivedi,

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Statistical

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24

of

Economics

and