CEE Jul-Sep-2012

people like Chinnamma to pay the Rs.1 ,500 monthly rent for her hut in a nearby slum. However, her means of survival is now under threat. GHMC is handing over management of the city's rubbish to Ramky Enviro Engineers, a waste management company which already runs 14 waste management facilities across India. The city's refuse will be used to fuel a gas-based power plant and also to some similar government-owned plants, currentl y under construction . As a result there will be nothing left for the waste pickers to collect or sell. Some will find temporary work at construction sites, while the women will look for work as domestic maids. The only other option is illegal sex work. The future of the recognized waste pickers is also uncertain as Ramky has no legal obligation towards them Satya Adamala, project director in Ramky's solid waste management division, says that the company will try to retain GHMC's current waste-picker force. However, Susheela, a GHMC waste picker, says, "Currently most of us earn Rs. 2000 every month from selling recyclables apart from our salary (Rs. 6000). Now we have been told that our salary will be Rs. 3000 and we should not take any recyclable material. If that happens, our earning will be less than half of what we have been making. " GHMC's move to privatize waste-management in Hyderabad is opposed by the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Hyderabad– based NGO that works to protect the right of waste pickers. APSA has appealed to both the state and the National Human Rights Commission to review the Ramky contract. S Srinivasa Reddy, APSA director pointed out that the waste pickers, if better trained can help to recycle much of the city's waste on their own . There are several successful examples of this across India. In Ahmedabad, 200 women waste pickers run a small business producing diaries, notepads and pens made from recycled waste. The Gitanjali Mahila Sewa Industrial Stationery Producers Cooperative Mandli is supported by We-Connect, a private sector forum, and the global consultancy firm Accenture , and customers include the World Bank. APSA has been lobbying the GHMC to count and recognize all the free-roaming waste pickers in the city, providing them with a safer, more regular income. Supporting APSA in its fight to protect the livelihood of free-roaming waste pickers is the Global Alliance for incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), a worldwide alliance of more than 600 non-profit organizations that opposes waste disposal by incineration and campaigns for increased recycling by waste pickers. According to Dharmesh Shah, GAIA's India Coordinator, landfill gas-to-energy projects are simply a modern method of incinerating waste and give no environmental benefits. In contrast, the waste pickers help build and informal but environmentally-friendly economy through low-cost sorting and recycling. "There are about 15 million people in India who earn a living from the collection and recycling of solid waste. There are not just keeping the cities clean but also contributing towards saving the environment. The government should provide them every facility that it provides to employees in other sectors. But in reality, the waste collectors are deprived of even the basic amenities," says Mr. Shah. The number of unofficial waste pickers in Hyderabad is on the rise and campaigners warn that banning them will not make them go away. Driven by lack of employment in their villages, these men and women arrive in the city looking for work. They are one of the most marginalized groups in India. The majority are Dalit (previously known as Untouchables) and landless, with almost no education or ski lls. Litter-picking is one of the only options open to them for survival. Once in the city, the waste pickers work in deplorable conditions. They have no protective gear, handling the waste with bare hands and living close to the dumping grounds which are rotting, stinking most waste. Rates of tuberculosis, cancer and renal failure are high, as are alcoholism and substance abuse. "The smell at the dump yard is stomach-churning .," Chinnama explains. Sivarani , a slum development coordinator with APSA who has been working with the city's waste pickers for more than 15 years, feels that they should have been given a chance to contribute to the debate. "Nobody should decide the fate of the waste pickers on their behalf. Currently, the entire deal is happening between the municipality and private companies. The waste pickers, whose lives revolve around the issue, should be the central party to this deal, but they are nowhere in the picture," says Sivarani. With support from APSA, 500 free-roaming waste pickers have recently been united under a banner called the Federation of Waste Collectors of Hyderabad . In November 2011, ten of them visited a recycling co-operative run by waste pickers in Pune. "Like them, we can also make compost, diaries, cups and calendars. The government, we hear, has banned plastic bags. We can make and supply paper bags to stores instead," says Chinnamma. The will is there among the waste pickers. But so far the government has not been listening. Courtesy: TERRAGREEN , July 2012, PpB-9. 33 ....... 1