SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
The CMC handles 700 tons of garbage per day generated
within city limits. Indiscriminate dumping of solid waste has been practiced
during past few decades and this has caused serious environmental problems.
Moreover, due to the various developments in 1980s, land became scarce in
The Council decided to hand over one municipal ward to
the private sector on pilot scale to handle collection and transportation. As a result, District 1, 2A and 5 were
contracted to private companies.
District 2B, 3 & 4 are still managed directly by
the Council. The competition between
private sector and the council staff has helped to improve the situation.
The lack of accurate, relevant and up-to-date local
data plus the tools necessary for their collection, manipulation and
presentation represents a real handicap for the Colombo Municipal Council and
other urban development stakeholders including the city’s inhabitants.
The earlier practice was to collect garbage by hand
cart labourers and then dump on the roadside at
temporary dumping points to be collected by truck/tractor later on. These temporary dumping points were very
unpleasant and also garbage was flown to roadside drains during heavy rain.
The division
started to collect garbage directly by the trucks and tractors thus eliminating
about 50% of temporary dumping points. House to house scheme was very
successful in middle and high income areas but not in low income areas. Through
the LASDO Project, a methodology has been implemented in two pilot wards (Modera and Narahenpita) to
clearly and easily identify the underserved settlements which are facing solid
waste problems.
Recycling of Solid Waste
A pilot project was carried out to collect recyclable
bottles and glass separately. About 75 houses were selected and it was decided
to expand this pilot project into other municipal wards by issuing three
containers to each household to collect glass, plastic and polythene and paper
separately. The GIS tools will allow Colombo Municipal Council to follow and
manage this selective collection.
The average day weight of each solid waste depot area has
been integrated into the GIS for the management, studies and calculation
purposes In a later stage, the solid waste collection boundaries will be
adapted to the administrative ward boundaries to facilitate information sharing
with the other departments of CMC and other local authorities concerned..
The Local Area Sustainable Development Observatory
shows how a GIS using up-to-date information linked to local digital maps can
facilitate better analysis of data and even simulation of possible outcomes
that will lead to better anticipation in the decision making process. Indeed,
it also provides training for local municipal staff which will ensure the
sustainability of the GIS. On that basis, CMC Solid Waste Section will contribute
to information updating and use the system as a tool for preparing new projects,
follow their implementation and evaluate the service level for
Eng. A.G. IRSHADH
District Engineer
Solid Waste
Section