Using actor network theory to understand solid waste management in Indore district, MP

Abstract

In today’s modern world, improved and effective waste management services are necessary for high-quality life of citizens. Due to this reason waste management gained attention in planning on both global and local scale. Today the problem of waste is the main focus in the planning agenda of the Indian government. With the aim of improved waste management, sanitation, and hygiene in 2014 the Swachh Bharat Mission was launched. The Swachh Bharat Mission has created a behavior change in the waste management perspective of the country. This changed the scope and scale of privatization into waste management systems of Indian cities. The waste in India, not simply a material, but it is associated with a complex negative connotation of the class and caste. Traditional waste management provides employment and low entry-cost opportunity for the deprived people struggling for their livelihood in the city. The privatization of waste management services increases the penetration of formal or private into the domain of the waste pickers. This study takes the case of Indore city which shown a positive response in waste management as compared to other cities of the country. This study highlights how the waste pickers, itinerant waste buyers and Informal waste sectors of Indore city is affected (either positively or negatively) by the formal rights-designation system with an institutional policy change (Swachh Bharat Mission, Municipal Solid Waste Rules 2016, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), previous an open-access regime.