Is it possible to create a Zero-Waste Environment in West Bengal?

Abstract

The author in this paper has done a holistic study on the waste management system in urban locales in India, especially the one in place in the state of West Bengal. Her study is premised on her hypothesis that the existing environmental regulatory system in India is not keeping pace with rapid urbanisation which in turn has been negatively impacting the health of all living beings in the era of Climate Change. She begins by defining urbanisation and explaining how there are many ill-impacts of this phenomenon, but that she would limit her scope to the study of Urban Waste Management System in the state of West Bengal, India. Her primary focus in this paper has been on the way waste is handled once it is generated in West Bengal, but she emphasises that the focus should ideally shift to reduction of waste or adapting to zero waste habits soon. For this purpose, she has studied elaborately contemporary practices employed by non-governmental entities who have worked in preventing and managing waste beyond their legal duties and outside the scope of supervision of the government. She offers in her conclusion that if appropriate modifications are made in the legal regulatory framework the face of waste management in the state of West Bengal can alter substantially.