I spent some time today cataloging unfamiliar vocabulary and looking for definitions. I decided to go ahead and start the next article after that. This was a relatively short piece, but very interesting. An article titled, ‘Changing Contours of Solid Waste Management in India’ it was published in 2012 and it’s data was more recent the article #1.

This article was concerned with SWM in Mumbai specifically and described a scenario that looks strikingly like urban gentrification. It was interesting to read about how the government of India basically thew up their hands and let local governments deal with pollution and waste management on their own terms and how this in turn led to the creation of private organizations and clubs who vied for funding. The groups sponsored by middle and upper class citizens (ALMs or Advanced Locality Management), predictably received more government funding and support due to having better resources and greater visibility in the media. The organizations and NGOs that endeavor to help people in the slums (SAPs or Slum Adoption Programs) are overworked, under served and underfunded. In addition to that, poor neighborhoods are being gradually squeezed out in the name of city “beautification” so that the city can attract businesses and tourists. The city of Mumbai has basically said to slums, “You can stay if you clean up your act.”, but then refuses to give them the resources they need to do so. Also, the poor are already overworked and can’t take time out of their day to clean their whole street because they are barely surviving.

Decentralizing and privatizing SWM seems to have created a situation where only the most connected get what they need.

An interesting article. I will be curious to read more on the subject as my research continues.

-Ashley