The Smart Cities, Clean India confluence

Smart Cities also need to be Clean Cities and hence there is a confluence between Smart Cities and Clean India.Defining goals, objectives and understanding reality in terms of India's needs and requirements is the key challenge on the path to 100 Smart Cities set by the government. In India, with nearly 50 per cent of the population near or below the poverty line, any planning which is not inclusive and is not directed towards improving the quality of life of this segment would fail.Swachch Bharat Mission priorities:• Waste management is not merely sweeping roads and heaping the mixed waste in a corner for someone else to take it and dump it in some unknown place, which is still someone else's front or back yard.• To understand the link between dumping mixed solid waste, which is known to have toxic and hazardous elements, in or near villages or agricultural lands or in unlined pits where the toxic elements can enter the water table and ground water aquifers and the fact that these hazardous substances can then enter our food chain which will cause permanent, irreparable damage to human, animal health and our ecosystems.• Waste management can be done only through source separation of various categories and separate treatment as per the nature and degradability of the different types of waste• Waste reprocessing and recycling has to be done carefully as many of the materials while being reprocessed can produce toxic emissions and hence technologies for recovery and recycling need to be selected carefully after studying various issues and concerns.• Waste management is a people management issue and without all stakeholders and their concerns, sustainable waste management cannot be achieved.

Dr Shyamala Mani of India's National Institute of Urban Affairs is an expert on waste management and environmental health issues.