There has been a delay of more than two years to notify the Meghalaya State Waste Management Policy and Strategy after the promulgation of the SWM Rules, 2016.
The Comptroller and Auditor General of India report for the year ended 31 March 2022 noted this and said this “reflects the lackadaisical approach of the Urban Affairs Department in implementing the waste management rules.”
The report also said that the State Government was set to approve the State Policy on Construction & Demolition (C&D) Waste even after a delay of almost five years.
It stated that the delay in notification and approval of requisite legislations has inhibited the implementation of SWM activities while none of the Municipal Boards in Meghalaya, and two autonomous district councils, namely JHADC and GHADC, had framed bye-laws for implementing SWM Rules 2016.
While the KHADC had only notified the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (SWM) Act, 2020 in February 2022, the report said this was ineffective due to the absence of legally empowering bye-laws.
The CAG said that the selected Municipal Boards, Town Committees, and Census Towns have failed to prepare comprehensive short-term and long-term SWM plans within the stipulated timelines.
Only the Shillong Municipal Board has submitted a City Solid Waste Action Plan that awaits approval.
The report also revealed that the Management of Solid waste in Town Committees and Census Towns outside the Municipal Area lies with local traditional institutions (called the Dorbar Shnongs) in association with Autonomous District Councils.
“Annual Reports were not submitted by the Town Committees and census towns to the Director Urban Affairs Department nor to the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board and as a result, there was no data available,” the report stated.
According to the CAG report, the failure of the test-checked urban areas in Meghalaya to develop contingency plans for waste storage, as stipulated by the Meghalaya Solid Waste Management, Manual 2016, left them unprepared to address unforeseen crisis like waste transportation disruptions and waste accumulation on streets of Jowai leading to public protest.
The report also stated that the failure of the Urban Affairs Department to produce any documents of meetings held by the State Level Advisory Committee indicates absence of nodal department’s monitoring efforts.
It noted that the lack of reliable data collection on waste generated, absence of periodical surveys and discrepancies in waste estimation methods resulted in inaccurate estimation of quantum.
The report also stated that the discrepancies of data on waste generation and collection figures reported by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board and information provided by tested Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), along with the absence of data from Town Committees and Census Towns, revealed the issues of data accuracy, completeness, and reliability.
“Availability of supervisory posts for SWM purposes, the inadequate availability of supervisory staff falling significantly short of the recommendations outlined in the MSWM Manual 2016 has adversely affected the ability of the selected Urban Local Bodies (UL.Bs) and Town Committee in Meghalaya to effectively manage solid waste activities, including collection and disposal,” stated the CAG report.
It pointed out that the unsatisfactory training and capacity-building initiatives for staff involved in Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) activities across various selected Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Meghalaya, resulted in operational inefficiencies and issues like mixing of segregated waste during collection, transportation, and processing.
The report also stated that integration of the recognition and integration of the informal waste sector, including waste pickers and collectors, into the formal waste management system has been inadequately addressed in Meghalaya.
Although the Service Level Benchmarking (SLB) initiative was launched by the Ministry of Urban Development that aims to monitor urban services, notification for Shillong Municipal Board (SMB), SLBs for other Municipal Boards were not established, and SMB’s performance in meeting SLB targets was generally below benchmarks.
The report also found out that the State Government heavily relied on external funding (Asian Development Bank) and Central grants, while the budgetary support from the State budget as agencies’ own resources contributed only a minor share towards financing of Solid Waste Management activities.
“Out of total allocation of Rs. 110.30 crores during 2017-22, Rs. 63.01 crore (57%) came from the NERCCDIP, Rs. 29.49 crore (27%) from 14th Finance Commission (FC), 15th FC and Swachh Bharat Mission (U), and Rs. 17.80 crore (16%) from the State budget,” the report stated.
According to the CAG report, a significant gap between operating revenue and operating expenses for SWM activities exists due to insufficient collection of user charges, indicating the need for improved revenue generation and strict enforcement of SWM charge.
