CHANDROTHI, GUNIYAL,JAMOLIWALA & SALONIWALA

WASTE MANAGEMENT FOR VILLAGES AROUND

DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND

Supported By:

In Collaboration With:Gram Pradhan,

Gram Sabha Chandrothi

Program Report

2017 - 2019

Chandrothi, Guniyal,Jamoliwala & Saloniwala

Waste Management for VillagesAround Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Program ReportNovember 2017 to January 2019

Supported By:

In Collaboration With:Gram Pradhan,

Gram Sabha Chandrothi

India’s Waste Crisis

India now generates over 1.75 lakh

tonnes (that is 175 million kgs) of

municipal solid waste every day.

That is a huge amount and,

unfortunately due to a lack of

proper municipal services and

awareness, a lot of that waste does

not get segregated or collected.

Instead it gets littered, illegally

dumped and, even worse, burned

to ashes. All this waste produces

huge amounts of potentially toxic

microplastics, leachate, and fumes

which are unhealthy for humans,

animals, and our sensitive

environment.

All of us have been and continue to be

witness to and unassuming victims of

this mismanagement on a daily basis,

whether it is in urban streets, in rural

areas, or now unfortunately even in

otherwise beautiful places: on

mountain trails, in dense forests, by the

banks of rivers, and over large fields.

The urgent need to act against this

human-made disaster is the driving

force behind our organization. It is why

we need to raise levels of public

awareness towards better waste

management practices in both urban

and rural landscapes across India.

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● A clean and healthy India, which has systems in place to ensure that

every citizen disposes their waste correctly and feels a sense of civic

responsibility and national pride regarding cleanliness.

● A healthier India with improved living standards and a better quality of

life where waste workers are valued and respected for their

contribution.

Our Vision

Our Mission

● Be a catalyst for community-based decentralized Solid Waste

Management (SWM) initiatives in rural, urban, and protected areas

and to pioneer replicable models of resource management,

innovative practices, research and education in the field of solid

waste management.

● Improve working conditions for waste workers and take positive steps

towards integrating the unorganized waste sector into the formal

Solid Waste Management (SWM) industry whilst reducing the stigma

attached to waste.

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About Waste Warriors

Founded in 2012, Waste Warriors is a

solid waste management NGO and

registered society that works through

a combination of direct action

initiatives, awareness-raising and

community engagement programs,

local advocacy, and long-term

collaborative partnership with various

government bodies. Our vision of a

clean India is broad but for good

reason: India’s population of 1.3

billion is in a time where sustainable

solid waste management is struggling

to catch up to exponential

consumption rates from all

socioeconomic backgrounds.

Our vision drives us to implement

sustainable solid waste management

systems and drastically improve

public awareness towards the harms

of waste pollution, and the benefits of

waste segregation and composting.

We also work towards expanding

waste collection services either by

training local communities to be

self-reliant by organizing their own

collection and segregation systems,

or by formally employing waste

pickers to join our projects to lift their

lives out of poverty and stigma.

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Max India Foundation & Waste Warriors

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Max India Foundation (MIF), the CSR arm of the Max Group, facilitates awareness of

health related issues and works for an eco-friendly environment. MIF is guided by the vision of

“Caring for Life” and has benefitted over 3.2 million people in 814 locations from the

underserved communities across the country in partnership with more than 452 NGOs. In 2015,

Max India Foundation adopted Chandrothi Gram Sabha and various interventions were

planned and implemented across the gram sabha to improve the quality of life of the

residents, including adding solar street lighting, upgrading school necessities and facilities,

tree plantations, monthly health camps, road housekeeping, nutrition, and sanitation.

Team members from Waste Warriors Society’s Dehradun project have been working in

the Chandrothi area with MIF’s support from November 2017 till January 2019. With the strong

support of Gram Pradhan, Gram Sabha Chandrothi, we have been able to conduct 48

awareness-raising events and engage 233 households in Chandrothi, Guniyal, Jamoliwala,

and Saloniwala villages, to implement a waste collection and disposal system for households

and businesses. The aim is to maintain basic waste-related sanitation, keep the participating

villages free of litter and dumped waste, and raise a strong sense of awareness on basic

waste management, including promoting segregation at source, discouraging waste

burning and littering, and providing a proper waste disposal mechanism.

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The four villages where the Waste Warriors Team works, Chandrothi, Guniyal, Jamoliwala and Saloniwala, come under Gram Panchayat Chandrothi. There was a lack of government policy implementation and financing, and no solid waste management system in these villages. The population had also increased significantly over the last decade, including from urban residents moving out of Dehradun, putting pressure on limited resources and creating a range of waste management issues to tackle:

Lack of waste segregation is the most challenging obstacle to overcome, and it certainly is a national issue, not limited to just villages. The village residents we engaged within Gram Panchayat Chandrothi did not know about segregating their waste at source because they did not really know about the difference between dry and wet waste, let alone what was recyclable. Food waste was a smaller issue as the villagers usually fed that to their cattle and goat, but for those who always mixed their waste, there was no awareness on the negative impact of doing so. There was also little knowledge on the hazards of mixing soiled sanitary waste, or even worse, burning it.

These four villages had almost no options when it came to disposing the waste generated by their households and small businesses. This challenge exists in many villages and even in urban areas across the state. To begin with, since there was no waste segregation, it was rare to see 2 or 3 bins at home to dispose dry waste or even recyclables separately. Outside households, villagers did not have any municipal support and lacked basic infrastructure, such as large waste bins for the community to collectively dispose their waste, and also lacked proper funding to support the emptying of such bins. In the absence of waste bins, villagers were left with no choice but to burn or dump their waste.

● Lac Aw e s Was re on

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● Lac In as c e f W te sa

WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUESIN VILLAGES AROUND DEHRADUN

As a result of the lack of waste segregation and disposal, it was inevitable that there was no waste collection in these villages. The Dehradun Nagar Nigam does not cover these areas so there’s no possibility for municipal waste collection. Even if a complete door-to-door waste collection service was provided to the villagers through a private vendor, it would not function well without awareness on proper segregation and bin usage, let alone being able to convince village residents to pay towards the collection service. Some villagers carried the waste to the city to dispose in municipal waste bins, but others found it more convenient to burn or dump their waste.

The villagers did not know alternate ways to get rid of their waste other than burning it or dumping it in nearby forest areas, or an adjacent empty plot or area, or even in the backyards of their own houses, resulting in visible dumpsites in and around the villages. “Out of sight, Out of mind” thinking was deeply ingrained in their habits. Since there were no waste bins in their areas, there was also heavy littering, especially by school children. We also found out from our baseline survey and interviews that the villagers did not consider burning or dumping as a hazard to the environment. Garbage generation and its disposal was not a matter of concern and they were satisfied with their methods of handling waste.

Dumping waste in nearby forest areas is all too often considered an easy way of getting rid of it, but a lot of it can ultimately make its way down and gets mixed in water bodies and streams. Most people unfortunately do not understand the impact of waste pollution on the water quality of these streams and rivers, as well as water biodiversity. Tons River, a tributary of River Yamuna, flows beside these villages and it is also why the riverside has become a popular tourist spot. Tourists often leave behind their waste which gets mixed in the river, further increasing the plastic pollution.

● Lac W s e l i n S ic

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● Wid r a L t i g, Dum g, an B n

● Pol on R er d W e r e

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➔ To raise awareness amongst the villagers on the basics of waste management.

➔ To encourage village residents to segregate waste at source in their homes and small businesses, to properly use multiple waste bins and recycling, and composting of organic waste.

➔ To raise awareness on the harmful effects of waste littering, dumping, and burning on the health of village residents and on their surrounding environment.

➔ To establish a reliable door-to-door waste collection system from all village households and small businesses.

➔ Engaging the village community and developing community leaders through:

◆ Physical door-to-door presence.

◆ Digital outreach via a dedicated Hindi/English WhatsApp Group, and social

media.

➔ Conducting awareness-raising programs like:

◆ Door-to-door awareness at households and small businesses.

◆ Community engagement events, rallies, and other activities.

◆ Interactive school activities like plastic bottle drives and murals.

➔ Organizing community clean-up drives with village residents and school students.

➔ Monitoring door-to-door waste collection for proper segregation and disposal.

Our Objectives

Our Methods

While doing our initial survey to understand waste disposal in village households, our interviews showed us that unfortunately people didn’t show much concern towards properly disposing waste, and they considered dumping and burning their waste to be their easiest option. Our activities have helped me understand the gravity of the problem and has given me the opportunity to help many people deal with their waste, by meeting interesting and active citizens and listening to their insights. Most villagers used to say, “humare yahan toh kuda hota hi nahi”. But I took this as a challenge to make them realise that everyone generates waste and it’s our collective responsibility to properly dispose it. I never thought such simple acts of meeting and discussing the issues with people could bring such an incredible change in their village, but that is what I’ve experienced. In the future, I’d like to replicate this model with more Gram Pradhans in other villages and continue to raise such awareness.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to talk to villagers about what they’d least like to discuss: trash. These residents appreciate our work and now understand its urgency. We connect bigger issues of climate change with simple but misunderstood acts of dumping or burning waste. We identify emotional triggers of different communities to convey our message. I am most proud of our “Swachhta ke Sipahi”, citizens who are active in neighborhoods where we conduct workshops on source segregation and composting, awareness-raising sessions, and clean-up drives. This awareness reduces the huge burden on waste collectors who have to otherwise collect and dispose mixed waste with no hopes of removing recyclables. Our partnership with Jaivik Vasudha is a sign of our mutual support.

Additionally, the team and their program was assisted by several Waste Warriors Dehradun staff, especially during our door-to-door awareness-raising visits. Project management support was provided by Mithinga Basumatary (Program Manager, Dehradun) and by Avinash Pratap Singh (Chief Operations Officer, HO), and content and design support provided by Chirag Mahajan (Communications Manager, HO).

Our Program Team

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NA KU S A(Out h & Par r p Ma g )

AN C A L(Pro t A is t)

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VI S RI T(Pro t A is t)

This program has boosted my confidence to raise awareness and discuss the importance of waste management amongst village residents. I learnt so much about people’s attitudes towards garbage and its disposal. I’ve improved the way I express my views to my team in order to engaging village residents in a more impactful way. One eye-opening observation for me was that people living here were unfortunately comfortable with simply burning their waste in their backyard, and most of them did not even consider the importance of proper waste disposal. Through our efforts, we have been working to bring about a significant change in their behaviour to help them understand why their waste is actually a problem for them, their children, and even their livestock, if the waste is not dealt with properly.

P O C NA N UP T(b De r an HO af )

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➔ The primary challenge was to change the mindset and attitudes of people

who were not exposed to alternate ways of getting rid of their household

waste, apart from dumping or burning. Initially our biggest obstacle was to

make villagers aware of the harmful effects of improper waste disposal and

of the burning of waste, especially plastics, on the health of not only

themselves and their children and the elderly, but even on their livestock

and the environment.

➔ The secondary challenge was to convince the villagers of the importance of

contributing a user fee to co-fund a waste collection system in their villages.

Since these villages are not part of the wards of the Municipal Corporation of

Dehradun, there were no municipal trucks coming to this area, and so we

had to try to persuade each villager to pay Rs.120 per month to Jaivik

Vasudha for their waste collection service.

Our Core Challenges

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Our Initial Survey

In July 2017 before our partnership with

MIF began, our first solid waste

management survey of Chandrothi,

Guniyal, Jamoliwala, and Saloniwala

had 163 respondents, collectively

representing 856 individuals (447 males,

and 409 females) in their households.

Here are our survey results:

63%used an open or lidded dustbin to store their waste.

Using a single bin only.

37%just used plastic bags,

reusable bags, or other means.

Some would dump waste without storing.

60%segregate at least

their kitchen waste from their dry waste.

Mostly peels and food leftovers.

40%do not segregate any of their waste at all.

Mixed waste is a huge challenge to process.

73%either feed organic waste to their livestock or dog, or compost it.

Mostly open-air composting.

27%do not separately

dispose their organic waste.

Some just dump the waste elsewhere.

65%also said they’d like help to manage their food waste.

Via better information and composting.

Waste Bins

Wet/Biodegradable Waste

Basic Waste Segregation

59%

Dry/Non-Biodegradable Waste

either burn this type of waste or dump it in

forest areas.Only 26% said someone

collects from them

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Our Efforts till Jan. 2019

• Door-to-door awareness programs helped our team build strong relationships with the village residents. In the program, two Waste Warriors and MIF-branded sacks (yellow for recyclable waste and white for non-recyclable waste) were given to each household to encourage and help them to keep their waste segregated.

• We also designed and distributed a small informative Hindi booklet that has basic information on categories of waste, segregation of dry waste, composting of wet waste, and the harmful effects of improper waste disposal.

DO -TO-DO AR S

CO N EN ME

• We organized community meetings with village residents to discuss waste management issues, gave presentations and composting sessions, and shared solutions to waste segregation and how individuals can do their part to keep their village clean. These engagements, helped us identify community leaders who supported us by convincing other villagers and making them aware of the importance of proper waste disposal. The active participation of these individuals has helped in the transformations of these villages.

• After building a strong rapport with many residents, our team created a WhatsApp group, called “Chalo Apna Gaon Savaaren”, which was used as a common platform for them to share their problems, to highlight interesting success stories from around the country, and to discuss their views on how to come together to tackle the waste littering and burning issues in their areas.

27door-to-door

awareness campaigns conducted.

177people

covered in 9 community

events on SWM awareness.

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Our Efforts till Jan. 2019

• Clean-up drives have always been a meaningful way to help active and concerned citizens experience first-hand the importance of keeping their environment clean and of waste segregation, and we’ve seen how this process evokes a deeper sense of civic responsibility and helps change the mindsets of people towards never littering again. It was such a great experience for our team to support school students who were so enthusiastic to participate!

C E -UP V

S U N AR S E S

• It is essential to make young generations aware of how badly waste is managed and what the proper steps are to responsibly manage their own waste. These awareness sessions helped change the behaviour of the students when it came to littering on the roads around their schools. Our team gave presentations on SWM and conducted interactive activities with the school students, including upcycling of recyclable materials.

• We also raised awareness through murals, which are a great way to engage youth and adults alike. We involved students from Shigally Hill International Academy, Purkal Youth Development Society, and Guniyal Primary School to make colorful murals in Guniyal with environmental messages that promote a cleaner village for all.

5community clean-up

drives with 146 people supporting, including

residents and students.

4educational

sessions conducted in

schools in these villages.

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Our Success Stories

• After convincing many villagers to begin segregating their waste into dry and wet, and further into recyclables and non-recyclables, the next step was to provide them a way to properly dispose what they segregated. We connected these four villages with Rajat who operates a waste collection service called Jaivik Vasudha, and we coordinated the waste pickups using our WhatsApp group. The collections are currently done at a door-to-door level from 100 households using Rajat’s truck to load recyclables and non-recyclables in separate bags. Limiting factors include the single truck’s capacity, not enough road coverage, and the collection fees.

• Many villagers have come forward to avail this service as they have now understood that the responsibility of keeping their surroundings clean is not restricted to just their doorsteps but extends beyond that into their village. We were able to convince many villagers to pay Jaivik Vasudha for their services, which is a huge step forward towards making the collection system financially sustainable.

Sta n W te c i S r i s

Swa h Sip : Com t Le r

• One of our methods was to develop community leaders who can lead this program once it ends and can be handed over to them. Our one-on-one interactions with residents and the community engagement events have helped our team in recognising community leaders as “Swachhta ke Sipahi” who are able to motivate and encourage their neighbours and fellow village residents to be a part of our program.

• These active citizens have been of great help and support, and without them we would not have been able to convince as many people to start segregating their waste, or to stop burning it, and to become active users of Jaivik Vasudha’s collection service.

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Our Success Stories

Awa s -Ra s Sup t m A an

• Ms. Saubhagi Devi works as a health worker at the Anganwadi in Chandrothi. She had initially helped our team to conduct a baseline survey of the villages. We then requested her to engage women who came to the Anganwadi to help them understand the importance of health and hygiene when it comes to solid waste management. Our team conducted two meetings at the Anganwadi where village women attended our sessions with their children.

• With Saubhagi Devi’s help along with Ritika, another health worker, we were able to educate these women, who are generally responsible for taking care of their households, of the harmful effects of improper disposal of waste and its relation with health and hygiene, especially with regards to sanitary waste and burning of plastics.

• We are proud to share that our awareness-raising and community engagement efforts in all our project areas were recognized on a national stage. On 2nd October 2018, India Today presented Waste Warriors Society with a Safaigiri 2018 ‘Community Mobilisers’ Award, one of 15 awards presented to NGOs working across India. Our Chief Operations Officer Avinash Pratap Singh had a moment on stage to discuss the importance of raising awareness amongst children and adults alike, and collaborating with local municipal and forest authorities to advocate for sustainable solid waste management initiatives.

• The award was presented by Honorable Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Mr. Aroon Purie, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India Today Group, to Mr. Singh along with our Board Treasurer Gaurav Aggarwal and Communications Manager Chirag Mahajan.

India Today Safaigiri Award 2018 - “Community Mobilisers”

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Our Work in Action

Program Testimonials

Anjali Srivastava, Guniyal Resident

Saubhagi Devi, Guniyal Anganwadi

We live in Guniyal Gaon, right above River Stone Cottages. Around 1 year ago, Waste Warriors came to our house, introduced themselves, and told us about proper waste disposal and segregation of waste. Though we were already doing pit composting at our home, the team suggested us a better and convenient way of doing it.

I am really grateful to Waste Warriors for their initiatives in Guniyal. If I talk about the changes in habits of villagers and cleanliness in the village, there have been a lot of developments at the grassroot level. People have started giving their household waste, twice a week to the garbage pick-up truck. Also the waste, especially plastic waste which earlier lay littered, has now reduced to a large extent. Waste Warriors along with the school children have also done some wall paintings in the village to encourage people to keep their village clean. I’d like to congratulate the team for bringing a positive change in my village.

I’ve lived in Guniyal for over 30 years and I work in the Anganwadi. I’m very satisfied with Waste Warriors’ hard work to change people’s behaviour. Most villagers lacked awareness and knowledge of the importance of proper waste disposal. Burning or dumping waste were their simplest and easiest solutions for waste disposal. People never took responsibility of the waste they generated.

Waste Warriors worked to fill this awareness gap. With the help of their door-to-door awareness programs and community meetings, they brought a positive change in the people’s mindsets. I’ve also been part of the programs to encourage people to change their habits in dealing with waste and to bring to their notice the hazards and diseases that are caused by improper waste disposal.

I’d like to thank the Waste Warriors team and also want to request our Gram Panchayat and Max India Foundation to subsidize the waste collection fee for families who live below the poverty line.

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Rakesh Thakur, Gram Pradhan Chandrothi

Gram Panchayat Chandrothi along with Waste Warriors Society has been working in our village to create awareness on solid waste management. Before their intervention, the citizens of my village knew only burning and dumping of their household waste as the solutions to get rid of the garbage. The beauty and the simplicity of the village was being ruined, the water source was getting contaminated, and the air was also getting polluted day by day. I’m very thankful to Waste Warriors for educating and encouraging the people to avoid burning and dumping waste. They even helped us introduce a waste collection service. With the support of the villagers and the team, the issues of littering, dumping and burning of garbage in the village are resolved to a large extent.

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Our Impact

Chandrothi Guniyal Jamoliwala Saloniwala

48 team visitsto these four villages

(Nov. 2017 to Dec. 2018)+850 233

Est. residents impacted through

door-to-door awareness

Households directly engaged

by our team.

18Small businesses directly engaged

by our team.

552251

Reusable waste sacks distributedSegregation

posters distributed

Raising Awareness Through:

9Community

meeting events organized

177People

participated in these meetings

5Clean-up drives organized in the

village areas

146People

volunteered to help clean-up

5Govt. and private schools engaged

through the program

276Primary and

secondary students engaged in activities

and presentations

Community Engagements Clean-Up Drives School Students

100Households/Shops regularly use waste collection service

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Impact Assessment

After our consistent efforts to cover 233 village households and reach as many village residents in Chandrothi, Guniyal, Jamoliwala, and Saloniwala villages, our team surveyed some of these residents to reflect on the impact of our awareness-raising and community engagement work. These are our survey results from 50 respondents:

90%yes

Do you know the difference between recyclable and non-recyclable waste?

Only 10% No/ Maybe

98%no

Do you burn your dry waste?

Only 2% still burn their waste

92%yes

Do you give your waste to the waste

collection truck?

Only 8% said No

72%yes

Do you give segregated waste to the collection truck?

Only 28% said No or Sometimes

94%yes

Do you feel your village is cleaner

than before?

Only 6% saidNo or Maybe

Given the magnitude of Dehradun’s waste management issues, we were aware that these would also extend to the villages surrounding it. Peri-urban residents and their administrations needed both systemic and behavioral change approaches. The steps that our team’s comprehensive awareness and engagement program took are now bearing fruit and showing its impact in these villages, and it will require time and energy to maintain the efforts.

Our Dehradun team at Waste Warriors Society extends our gratitude and appreciation to Max India Foundation for their generous support. This gratitude comes not only from us, but also from the residents and business owners in Chandrothi, Guniyal, Jamoliwala, and Saloniwala, as well as the students who participated in our activities. We have regularly engaged them in their homes, outside their shops, in our workshops, in clean-up drives, and we know that many are now much more aware than before.

We hope to continue our mission to raise awareness on waste pollution and the importance of waste management, and we will ensure that as many households as possible understand their responsibilities towards their waste and will segregate and compost it, and encourage their family and neighbors to do the same. We thank you for helping us make a difference in the lives of these village residents, and for supporting our vision of a cleaner India.

Tha to M I d a F n a n!

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dehradun@wastewarriors.org

@wastewarriors1

www.wastewariors.org

+91 78952 67144

Waste Warriors Society

71A/386, Balaji House Lane

Dilaram Chowk, Rajpur Road,

Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001

Waste Warriors is registered under the Indian Societies Act 1860 - 243/2012-2013Registered Address: 24 Pritam Road, Dalanwala, Dehradun, 248001

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