Community Participation for Urban Solid Waste Management: A Study on Tinsukia Municipality of Assam

Abstract

Generation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and its poor management is one of the major environmental issues of Indian cities. Poor management and improper regular dumping of solid waste degrades the urban environment quality and that creates environmental pollution which has an adverse impact on the quality of life of the inhabitants in the society. This study explores the possibility of community participation approach as an alternative approach to municipal own waste management to tackle the MSW problem in Tinsukia Municipality of the State Assam. This approach will be sustainable if there is proper demand for solid waste management (SWM). This paper also attempts to assess the demand for better SWM. People’ s demand is reflected by their willingness to pay through Contingent Valuation Method. This paper shows that municipal service of SWM is not sufficient. Due to this insufficient service people are ready to pay for getting better service. The people have a significant demand for better waste management. The willingness to pay is significantly affected by income and volume of waste.