1.1 Solid waste problem in India

India is the second largest nation in the world with a population of 1.21 billion, accounting for nearly 18% of world's human population, but it does not have enough resources or adequate systems in place to treat its solid waste. Its urban population grew at rate of 31.16% during the last decade to 377 million, which is greater than the entire population of the United States, the third largest country in the world accounting to population [15]. Solid waste management is a significant and growing problem in many urban areas in India due to economic development, urbanization, and improving living standard in cities of developing India have led to increase in the quantity of complex composition of municipal solid waste. Management of municipal solid waste resulting from rapid urbanization has become a serious concern for government departments, pollution control agencies, and regulatory bodies and public in most of the cities in India. The challenges of solid waste in Indian cities and town it addressed by various agencies the responsibility of the collection, removal and disposal of garbage from public places in urban areas and maintenance of dumping ground however, comes under the purview of the local municipal body which is the main formal stakeholder involved in the governance of solid waste management in India [16]. Solid waste management has been the most neglected area of urban development over the years and has accounted for severe health problems in urban areas all over the country. A number of cases have come to light because of mismanagement of municipal solid waste management [17]. Solid waste management has been major concern in developing India see [18–23] in urban areas. Moreover, increasing consumerism and development of technology also has increase in solid waste management process in semi-urban areas in India see [17, 24–27] lack of data and inconsistency in existing data is a major hurdle studying in developing nations like India. Semi urban area is very little information regarding solid waste produced in peri-urban areas unsatisfactory level of environmental services such as water supply the management of solid waste is going through a critical phase due to the unavailability of suitable facilities to treat and dispose large amount of municipal solid waste get generated daily metropolitan cities. Lack of financial resources, institutional weakness and improper technology and public apathy towards municipal solid waste are listed among the bottlenecks to provision of efficient and effective municipal solid waste management in India [24].

Household Willingness to Pay for Improved Solid Waste Management Services: Using Contingent… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83598

Municipal solid waste management has been found critical to public health and environmental improvements, urban areas of India became acutely aware of the problem in 1994, in the waste suspected in plague epidemic in Surat, an industrial city in the state of Gujarat. The first major attempt to develop a national strategy of solid waste management by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute [28], focused mainly the issues of urban areas with population more than 100,000. The Central Pollution Control Board study also reported widespread use of unnotified dumpsites for disposal of solid wastes in these towns. In spite of spending 30–50% of the total municipal budgets on solid waste management [29]. The unsatisfactory outcomes of current solid waste management services points to need for a sustainable solid waste management approach in semi-urban areas [27]. Delivery services is the another consequences of poor managed finance the failure of municipal bodies to deliver basic urban services. The management of solid waste in small towns in a particularly useful indicator of the efficiency of urban local bodies metropolitan cities are better provided with both water and solid waste management system then other urban and semi-urban centers [25]. The author also points out in Mirzapur (North-India small town) area, rickshaws piled high with waste can be seen careening through the streets, often through the streets, often depositing half of what they have collected on the road. The rest is thrown on the banks of the river Ganga that runs through the town. In Janjgir, even cycle rickshaws are not available. Men pulling handcarts clear the garbage. This naturally reduces the efficiency and frequency of collection. Many municipal bodies in small towns do not have the funds to transport solid waste to dumps outside the urban area. As a result, it is dumped within town limits. Hence, while in Mirzapur you see piles of garbage alongside the temples that dot the banks of the river Ganga, empty plots within town limits inevitably become garbage dumps in other towns.
