How to clean up India’s filthy cities
As the country gets richer it consumes more—and throws away more, too
PANJIM, THE capital of the Indian state of Goa, is known for its pretty churches and Indo-Portuguese homes. But 20 years ago it looked like any other Indian city: filthy. Some 1,500 community waste-collection bins overflowed with mixed rubbish. Their contents were dumped beside a nearby village, growing into a mountain of garbage. Eventually, in the monsoon of 2005, the trash-heap collapsed, sending refuse into homes. Revolted, villages revolted; the site was closed. City officials looked for another site but no one would take their waste.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Rubbish story”
From the December 14th 2024 edition
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