-The Hindu A gut-wrenching story of the poor and marginalised who work and live at Mumbai’s Deonar landfill to earn their daily bread Rag pickers live off what the rest of the world throws away. They lead invisible lives in the landfills that keep growing, stagnating and putrefying with items discarded by the city’s rich. The dark trail of modern life is seen and felt everywhere. Journalist Saumya Roy, who spent eight years...

The rise in COVID-19 daily new cases and daily new deaths compelled many state governments to impose local level lockdowns during April-May 2021. As of 20th April, 2021, partial lockdowns were noticed in 10 states across the country and complete lockdown was imposed in Delhi. As of 8th May, 2021, nearly the entire country was under complete lockdown as a result of either partial lockdowns and night curfews or complete...

-The Indian Express Despite framing rules, proposing fines and starting ‘model colonies’, waste segregation in the capital has failed to take off. With mountains of garbage continuing to grow, The Indian Express reports on the challenges before authorities. The year 2015 was an eye-opener of sorts for Arpit Bhargava. Down with dengue, the lawyer started thinking about the link between waste and diseases. But thoughts gave way to action when he heard...

-TheWire.in In India, caste and practices related to caste are inescapable in the waste-management conundrum. There’s a wonderful book called Ask the Fellows Who Cut the Hay about England in bygone days when it was still heavily rural and agricultural labour was the life of thousands of people. The recent release of the Swachh Survekshan rankings of India’s cleanest cities suggests someone should write a book called Ask the People Who Pick Up...

-Down to Earth Waste pickers recycle almost 20 per cent of India's wastes. Yet they are unrecognised, face discrimination and are not entitled to government schemes India produces about 5.31 million tonnes of waste each year and is facing an unprecedented solid waste management crisis. Coupled with an upward trend in industrialisation, rural migration, spending and an increasing propensity for capitalist consumption, the amount of waste generated in India will continue...