Sustainable

Cities& EIA
Laloor Waste
Management

Sustainable Cities and EIA

Introduction
Population explosion, coupled with improved life style of people, results in increased
generation of solid wastes in urban as well as rural areas of the country. At present, the
municipal solid waste disposal methods followed in many of the cities and towns are
unsystematic & unscientific and involve dumping in low-lying areas. Most of the disposal
sites are just uncontrolled dumps where a mixture of domestic, commercial, industrial and
hospital wastes is thrown away at the dumping sites. Apart from creating air pollution,
ground water contamination & soil contamination, open dumping of wastes generally
becomes breeding ground for various dreadful disease causing pathogens and vectors,
particularly in the vicinity of the disposal sites. Further, with increasing awareness of public
on environmental and health issues, there is a general opinion that the standard of services
with respect to collection and disposal of municipal solid waste is progressively declining. It
is also true in many cities as half of the solid waste generated remains unattended.

Need for Study:

The global urbanization and urban sprawl is the overall development trend of cities all over
the world. During the process of urban sprawl, the spatial structure of a city often goes
through the biggest transformations and the urban fringe area sees the fastest transition of
land use modes. On one hand, the internal land use structure of the fringe area evolves
from rural land use to urban land use. On the other hand, the external boundary of urban
fringe area usually spread outward. As a relatively independent geographic entity, the
predominant characteristic urban fringe area lies in the disorder of its sprawl. The fast
speed and disorder of urban sprawl caused a series of problems concerning the population,
land resource, economy, social and ecological environment. The symptoms are the
explosion of urban population, the wasting of land resources, the draining of farmland, the
booming of urban villages, the polarization of the society, the segregation of the rich and
the poor, the deterioration of mountain and wetland, the pollution of the atmosphere and
water body, etc. Focusing on the primal problems in urban development, the research on
the urban fringe area has become one of the hotspot areas in urban design and related
studies

Context of Study
Solid waste management has become a dilemma for citizens and local authorities in cities
across India. Homes, commercial establishments, hospitals, industries and construction
sites are estimated to generate a total of 10,000 MT of waste per day in the country. Even
as the warning alarm regarding proper management of waste has been sounded across
India, the problem seems to be particularly exacerbated in Kerala. Unofficial estimates
indicate that Kerala generates 6000 ton of waste every day. However, local issues and
sentiments have prevented even the collection of solid waste. Waste can be categorised
into recyclable, biodegradable and hazardous. Proper segregation and disposal of waste is
required for the safety of the citizen and protection of the environment. Currently, waste is
thrown away untreated to a nearby dump yard or burned by the house owner himself
without consideration to the environmental damages.

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Every city has a garbage ground serving the whole city, But these grounds are not
systematically treated causing numerous health issues for the complete city, in this report
the case of Laloor in Thrissur is discussed.
The leachate reaches the wells making it polluted and this polluted water is used for
drinking by the neighbourhood.The intolerable stench from the plant and pollution of water
and air prompted the people to protest against indiscriminate waste dumping. They have
started an indefinite protest and satyagraha for shifting the plant to some other location,
forcing the authorities to close down the plant. As the trucks were blocked by the people,
the Corporation authorities were unable to dispose huge quantity of garbage collected from
houses, flats, hospitals and offices. Severe stench and filthiness due to which the life in the
city has become miserable. Health experts cautioned that if this situation continues, the
city will become a breeding ground of severe diseases like dengue fever, jaundice, malaria
and other problems.
Chelora of Kannur, Vilappil shala of Thiruvananthapuram, Njeliyanparambu in Kozhikkode,
Vadavathur in Kottayam, Kureeppuzha in Kollam, are similar places infected by garbage
problems to be solved

Source : ( Digital Film Maker's Forum Trust. Travel template. Powered by Blogger.)

Aim of the study:

To develop sustainable waste management strategies for residential colonies and
apartments in urban Kerala

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Objectives:

To find out the core reasons which leads to inefficient waste management
To recommend criteria for the proper management & production of waste
Reduce the area of land that is used for waste dumping

Scope of Study
The study will deal with the waste management strategies that the residents of the area
and the government needs to follow to generate less waste and to keep the environment
clean. Extensive waste segregation study is required for a detailed waste management
strategy development which due to time constraint will not be conducted in this study. The
study will be limited to Laloor, Thrissur.
The final choice of the case-study was based on the following criteria:
1. Relevant, easily accessible data (old maps, digital data etc.)
2. Ease of comparability with similar areas facing waste management problem

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Site Location

The site for sanitary landfill development is located at Laloor (about 4 km from city centre)
spreading over an area of 4.53 Hectares. The site is being used by the Municipal
Corporation for the past two decades, for waste processing and disposal.

Site

Waste disposal site is situated in the midst of a residential area.

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Evolution
By the end of 18th century, Kochi ruler His Highness Sakthan Thampuran shifted his
residency to Thrissur. At the time, the width and development of Thrissur town was only a
few kilometers around Vadakumnathan temple. That was the period of using oil tin toilets in
aristocratic families. They flushed out their stool to oil tins. The stool was dumped casually
in wild areas around Vadakkumnathan temple and along the road side bushes. The days of
nauseating smell everywhereThampuran was received by this atmosphere here. The strict
order came out "let the town be clean first..." If town to be cleaned up; the stool should be
taken away to a place not inside the easy attention of the Thampuran. Soldiers found out a
place, three kilometers far at south-west side from Vadakumnathan temple. A non
residential area, totally a forest. Thus, the first garbage reached here from outside. The
impurity of human stool. Gradually, began to reach here the dead bodies of orphans and
low caste people also. And, Lloor was named so, as a coincidence. The man who had
brought dead bodies and stool became the first son of Lloor. He built his shelter in Lloor
resisting the wild animals. His heirs changed Lloor as their village. Gigantic trees at began
to fall down. Bushes and shrubs vanished. Footpaths were formed. Huts were built
everywhere. Lloor developed as a populated area
The city generates around 160 tonnes of waste every day. But it doesnt have any proper
procedure to process it. Earlier, Laloor was used to dump the waste from the city. Because
of protest and indefinite strike which was started on October 2, 1988, dumping was stopped
there. On October 3, 2012, foundation was laid for an organic waste converter treatment
plant in Sakthan Thampuran Nagar,which manages only the market waste

Site Study
The present Muncipal Solid waste Management facilities at laloor has however proved to be
inadequate on account of various shortcomings in processing capacity resulting in leachate
leakage,pollution , foul odour, generation of swamps of flies etc causing health hazards to
the people in the nearby residential colonies.
A recent accidental leakage of leachate from the waste dumping yard caused flooding in
the appurtenant residential compunds.
There is an inbuilt plant for processing the waste dumped here. But the plant is now not
working & presently remains the house of stray dogs & homeless . The neighbourhood
complains on the unscientific way of not only treating the waste , but also of shutting down
the plant.

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Closed Waste Processing Plant

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Greenery on Dumped Waste West side View

Issues identified :

Open waste dump in-situ, The waste is dumped throughout the yard .
No segregation of waste , altogether is dumped into the land.
Rain water that falls on to this waste heap runs down as decayed waste
water to the surroundings
Rain water also catalyses the leachate to reach beneath the ground at a faster
rate.
The dump yard & residential area has no visual barrier in between creating a
negative image to the city.

Remedies:
The remedies mst begin from individual houses , Proactive steps must be taken to
popularize source segregation & treatment of bidegradable at the source itself to reduce
the pressure on common facility,inadequate at present.
The Source treatment of biodegradable waste using ring composting,pit composting ,
vermin composting,or bio methanation ( household biogas plant) as a possibility in the

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homestead type of households with residential compound of area more than 3 cents or in
residential complexes to reduce the flow of biodegradable waste to the common facility.
The wast dump in situ should be closed by confining the waste to a portion of the yard and
closing it in a secured manner
Adequate space should be left for constructing garland drain for stormwater collection.
The dyke formed should be created with full precaution to maintain adequate slope.
Adequate collection channel & lead channel shall be formed at the dyke
leachate & prevent the leachate flow to the open drains.

for collecting

Adequate soil cover shall be provided as final cover to the waste dyke & grass , bush,
shrubs, creepers etc should be planted on the dyke for providing stability & aesthetic
appearance.

My Government realizes the challenges that a densely populated State like Kerala faces in
the disposal of urban and rural waste. It will adopt a three pronged strategy, firstly of
segregating all waste into less biodegradable wastes including plastics and organic and
biodegradable wastes, secondly of emphasising decentralized waste treatment units and
thirdly of encouraging infusion of modern technology in waste management. Appropriate
solutions and strategies will have to be found to address this with the cooperation and
understanding of all concerned. The prime focus has to be on technologically upgrading
waste management facilities in various urban local bodies. For this, schemes in major urban
local bodies are planned as part of Suchitwa Varsham Project. Modern Solid Waste
techniques using clean and non-polluting technologies like incineration, eco-cycling and
pyrolysis which do not create leachate, bad odour, and require no dumping and landfill will
be implemented in all major urban local bodies. Regional waste processing centres in Kerala
will be set up. Small to medium scale decentralized waste management units and small
household-level waste management units will be set up. Source
treatment of solid waste in households and institutions will be encouraged and plastic
shredding units will be started. The operations of the Suchitwa Mission in the
implementation of Malinya Mukta Keralam (Waste-free-Kerala) Action Plan will be scaled up.
The targets of Total Sanitation Campaign will be achieved to ensure Nirmal State status for
Kerala.

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Bibliography
Digital Film Maker's Forum Trust. Travel template. Powered by Blogger. (n.d.). Laloorinu
parayanulathu. Retrieved from http://laloorinuparayanullathu.blogspot.in/
(n.d.). EMP report of Diband Multipurpose project. In Solid Waste Management and
Sanitation Facilities.