As per the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 in India, which one of the following statements is correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2019 Prelims]
(a) Waste generator has to segregate waste into five categories.
(b) The Rules are applicable to notified urban local bodies, notified towns and all industrial townships only.
(c) The Rules provide for exact and elaborate criteria for the identification of sites for landfills and waste processing facilities.
(d) It is mandatory on the part of waste generator that the waste generated in one district cannot be moved to another district.
Answer: (c)
Explanation:
- The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 require local bodies with a population of 1 million or more to establish waste processing facilities within two years.
- For census towns with populations below 1 million, local bodies with populations of 0.5 million or more must establish common or standalone sanitary landfills within three years.
- Common or regional sanitary landfills must be established by all local bodies and census towns with populations under 0.5 million. Therefore, Option 2 is incorrect.
- The Rules provide precise and comprehensive criteria for identifying landfill sites and waste processing facilities, making Option 3 correct.
- Waste generators are required to separate waste into three streams: biodegradables, dry (plastic, paper, metal, wood, etc.), and domestic hazardous waste (diapers, napkins, mosquito repellants, cleaning agents, etc.) before handing it over to the collector. Therefore, Option 1 is incorrect.
- Waste generators are not required to keep waste generated in one district within that district, so Option 4 is also incorrect.
