minutes of landfill workshop 2-3june 2011 mumbai

8/4/2019 Minutes of Landfill Workshop 2-3June 2011 Mumbai

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Workshop on Landfill Workers Struggles and Strategies

Venue: Nirmala Niketan Extension Centre, St Pious College Campus

Aarey Road, Goregaon East, Mumbai

2nd 3rd June 2011

Workshop Agenda

2nd June 2011:

Time Topic Facilitator

9.30 to 10.30Welcome, Introduction and expectations of the 2

day workshopJyoti Mhapsekar

10.30 to 1.00

(Tea Break in

between)

City wise presentations on landfill workers:

What was the situation of their citys landfill 3-5years ago in terms of access to waste, number ofwastepickers on the landfill

What is the current situation with regard toaccess to waste and number of wastepickers on

the landfill

Is there a threat to livelihood now or in nearfuture

If the citys landfill has been closed towastepickers, what happened to the wastepickers

Nalini

1.00-2.00 Lunch

2.00 to 3.30 Findings on the Landfill Studies in Virar Neha and Manisha

3.30 to 4.30 Occupational health issues of working in landfill Poornima Chikarmane

3rd June 2011:

9.30 to 11.00

(Tea Break in

between)

What are the laws, policy and trends in landfill

managementBharati Chaturvedi

11.00 to 11.45 A case study of Latin America that focus on the

struggles and strategies used its challenges and

successes

Lucia Fernandez

11.45 to 1.30 Brain storming on alternatives, Framing Strategic

AIW demands and protecting WPs livelihoods

Lakshmi Narayan

1.30 to 2.30 Lunch

2.30 to 4.00 Recommendations of this workshop to the MOEF,

MOUD and Labour ministries

Lakshmi Narayan

4.00 to 4.30 Evaluation and Closure Jyoti Mhapsekar


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Introduction

The workshop on Landfill Workers Struggles and Strategies was organized by the Alliance of Indian

Wastepickers with a view to understanding the situation of wastepickers working in landfills,

especially in the face of privatization.

Workshop participants were mainly wastepickers and activists from cities in India where landfill

workers are looming under the threat of privatization and also included two wastepickers from

landfills in South Africa and Senegal. The situation at each landfill was presented by one

wastepicker from each landfill and revealed similar patterns all over the country and abroad such

as privatization and child labour.

The preliminary findings of an impact study of unorganized wastepickers in Vasai-Virar a region

to the north of Mumbai, where dumping grounds have shut and severely affected wastepickers in

multitude ways were shared. The occupational health issues faced by wastepickers and formulation

of demands such as access to recyclables at an increased number of places, improved working

conditions that need to be placed before authorities were also framed.

Different strategies such as rallies, signature campaigns, write-ups besides dialogue that can be

used in varied situations and with people to achieve desired goals. of landfill workers, strategies,

alternatives and recommendations to the Government. Laws, policies and trends in landfill

management and the thrust on technically engineered landfills and its implications were also

shared along with feedback on the two day workshop.

(List of participants appended at the end.)

2nd June

Introduction

The workshop began with a welcome and introduction by Jyoti Mhapsekar followed by an exercise

where all participants were asked to list the number of years they had worked with waste. Some

had worked for 30 years at the landfill, some for two or three years, overall the number of years of

experience of workshop participants totaled 483 years..

The song Municipality ke paise bachate hain (We save the Municipalitys money) was sung by

everyone and participants were asked to come up with new slogans during the workshop besides

Kachra humaara aapka, nahi kisike baap ka.

Participants were then asked to list the various names they know dumping grounds by, which were

as follows

Dumping Dumping site


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Decharge (French: pronounced De-shaash) Kude ka khatta Landfill Vertelero (Spanish)

Session 1: City wise presentations on landfill workers:

Wastepickers presented situations at their landfill 3-5 years ago with regard to access to waste,

number of wastepickers on the landfill and the current situation regarding the above. They also

spoke on current threats to their livelihood now or those likely emerge in the near future.

Thirteen wastepickers from the states of Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and South

Africa and Senegal gave their testimonies highlighting the past and present situation at their

landfill, their earnings, etc which are appended asAnnexure 1 at the end.

Through the testimonies, it emerged that wastepickers in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai (Govandi

dumping ground) and Pune were already being affected by privatisation of landfills, while some

said that they had heard that a private company could be contracted for managing the waste at the

landfill.

Significant Trends revealed during testimonies

1. Reduced access to waste since onset of privatization of collection, transportation of waste orlandfill management of the ULB

2. Children working in landfills in India and abroad.3. Entry of other communities into wastepicking, who were not associated with the occupation

earlier, due to closures of other industries like textile mills leading to an increase in the number

of landfill workers.

4. Labourers brought from outside the region by waste processing companies to work at thelandfill and in waste processing,.

5. Presence of organized wastepickers (those associated with a wastepicker organization) whohave ID Cards, as well as unorganized wastepickers (those not associated with any

organization) in the dumping ground.

6. Reduction in daily earnings of wastepickers than before. The maximum earnings on dumpinggrounds in certain cities were reported by participants as follows -

Pune Rs. 700-800 in 12 hrs work


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Delhi Rs. 300-350 in 12hrs work Mumbai - Rs. 300 on a normal working day, Rs. 500 from 12 hours of work but a

participant said that it was difficult to work for such long hours.

The women who buy gaadis i.e. pay money to be allowed to pick waste from a truck,can earn up to Rs.1000 in a day.

A rare case of low earnings was reported by participants from Ahmedabad7. Requirement of paying entry fees or fines at the dumping ground -

In some landfills, like for example in Delhi, wastepickers have to pay Rs. 10 to the landfillguard while entering the landfill, and if wastepickers refuse to pay up they are slapped and

chased away.

At the Ghazipur landfill in Delhi, wastepickers pay Rs. 5 for entry. In Ahmedabad, wastepickers pay Rs. 5 for gaining entry into the landfill. Wastepickers in Pune reported not having to pay any money for entry into the landfill. In Mumbai, wastepickers pay Rs. 25 per week as entry fee.

8. Increased costs of living, entry fees and fines and travel costs to landfills (when the landfill ismoved farther away from the city) and reduced earnings.

9. Except for Senegal, no rehabilitation plans for wastepickers were proposed for any loss oflivelihood to be incurred by them in the future. In Senegal, only 29% of the total number of

wastepickers working at the landfill were proposed to be included in the future developmentplans for the dumping ground.

10.Wastepickers go where the waste goes i.e. migrate to another landfill on the closure of onelandfill. This increases the cost of transportation and also travel time.

11.Increased number of accidents and aggravated hazardous work conditions at the landfill.12.Presence of mafia who control access to waste on dumping grounds.13.Elected representatives entering into solid waste management.14.Several landfills to be closed or privatized in the coming future.

Session2: Findings on the Landfill Studies in Virar Neha Govindan


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The preliminary findings of the impact study conducted by KKPKP and YUVA Mumbai, in the Vasai

Virar region situated to the north of Bombay, were shared in this session which included the

below-

Dumping grounds

There are four dumping grounds in the region, of which the largest dumping ground is at

Nalasopara. Dumping of recyclables has stopped at all dumping grounds and the waste generated in

the region is transported by a private contractor to the Hanjer waste processing plant, contracted

by the Virar Vasai Municipal Corporation to process the entire regions waste since January 2010.

Wastepicker background

43% wastepickers in the region come from the Adivasi or tribal warli and katkari communities

while the rest are marginal farmers or landless labourers who have come from other regions in

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and other states. Due to the lack of any proof of ownership of land where

they have been residing for generations and the indiscriminate construction by the land mafia in

the area, the tribal wastepickers have lost their land and thus their farms and forests which were

the main source of their livelihood, which forced them to take up wastepicking for a living.

Reasons for taking up wastepicking

Respondents of the study cited poverty and need for survival, illiteracy and the inability to find any

other source of livelihood, lower earnings from other occupations and parents who were

wastepickers too, as the reasons for taking to wastepicking.

Impact of closure

Since the closure of the dumping ground, some wastepickers had given up wastepicking entirely,while some continued to search for waste along with engaging in other sources of livelihood such as

bigaari work (daily wage labour), begging, cleaning gutters and sweeping, domestic work, farming

others fields, fishing, hamaali and some respondents said they were no longer working.

As a result of the closure of the dumping ground, wastepickers lost their source of livelihood

overnight and now have to spend many more hours going in search of waste or have cut down on

works because of the unavailability of waste.

Incomes of wastepickers had been gravely affected by the end of dumping of waste and 68%

respondents said they earned anywhere between Rs. 0- Rs. 100 a day while 46% reported earnings

in the 0-100 Rs range earlier. Only 5% said they earned between Rs. 201 300 from wastepicking.

60 % said they were not eating the same amount of food and 33% said they could no longer afford

the same quality of food and hence ate lesser, or bought cheaper varieties of grain.

Session 3: Occupational Health Issues of Women Poornima Chikarmane


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The scope of the session was broadened to include a discussion on the new trends in solid waste

management in all ULBs, identifying areas where wastepickers could be integrated in emerging

trends in solid waste management, occupational health issues of wastepickers along with demands

of informal wastepickers to various agencies.

The first point of discussion was whether we really want to be working with waste. The unanimousagreement of wastepicker participants was that they would like to continue doing so, with better

conditions of work, access to better educational and occupational opportunities for their children.

Further, they agreed that resource recovery from waste provides freedom in their work, better

money than other occupations in the urban informal sector.

A common grouse of wastepickers during testimonies was other communities, traditionally not

associated with the occupation were turning to wastepicking which was reducing the already

diminishing access to recyclables in several cities. Poornima pointed out that at some point in time

everyone had come from outside villages to cities and emphasized that our fight was not against

other poor and informal labourers like ourselves, but against companies, Municipalities and the

Government.

The session looked at the process of waste collection, transportation and landfill processing.

Wastepicker participants identified that they can be integrated in door to door collection of waste,

resource recovery at secondary stations and access waste before it is processed. The participants

said that they were open to working in organic waste processing also.

On reflecting about what wastepickers demands should be to any ULB, Ministry or Government,

the following were suggested

1. We would like to have access to recyclables and we also want a change in our workingconditions.

2. Children must not be allowed on landfills and in wastepicking this is something we have toensure ourselves and demand of ourselves.

3. If mixed waste comes to the garbage truck or the conveyor belt in the processing plant, thewaste should belong to us.

Machines can be used where necessary to clean recyclables, but we must be allowed to sort

waste. While this is not happening in any waste management facility/ULB as yet, we

demand from the government, access to recyclables before they enter waste processing

facilities.

4. ULBs should provide social security to us in the form of medical facilities, life insurance,maternity benefits, pension.

5. We should get educational scholarships for our children like municipal employees.


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Closure of landfills is inevitable with rising land prices and villagers becoming aware of the ill

effects of landfills on their health, their land and the environment. In the light of the reducing

access to waste, where and how to access waste in its journey from the source of waste to the

landfill needs to be reflected on. The various points wastepickers can access waste at, are -

-

Waste at doorsteps- Waste on trucks- Material Recovery Centre- Compost pits- Biogas plants- Transfer stations- Waste processing plants- Landfills

Accidents of wastepickers must be reported to the police or in the court of law, and not just

wastepicker organizations but wastepickers themselves must work on collecting information, proof

and evidence and report the occurrence of the accident.

RTI petitions must be filed for getting more information, so also for dumping ground contracts,

terms, etc.

Other points with regard to the issue of usage ofthe term waste -

Why say waste or garbage? Why not paper, metal, tin, glass, etc?

We do not want waste or garbage, we want recyclables. Kohinoor Bibi

Waste is but a means to a livelihood; basics such as food, clothing, shelter is what we want. ShefaliSheikh

Every disease is born in the landfill. The steam that is released in the landfill can take away the light

of our eyes. Jabiullah Ansari

3rd June

Session 4: What are the laws, policy and trends in landfill management Bharati Chaturvedi

The participants were split into groups and asked to discuss questions posed to them.

Effects of Landfills

Each group was asked to name the kinds of pollution that a landfill causes i.e. air, water, soil

pollution, the release of toxic gases and leachate being the main cause of these.


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They were then asked to list diseases that commonly occur amongst wastepickers working at the

landfill. Back problems, injures and cuts while picking waste, skin diseases, temporary loss of

eyesight besides cancer, asthma were reported.

Sangita Shinde from Pune differed with this view and said that she had been working at the landfill

for many years and had never fallen sickand didnt feel that it affected her health at all.

Technically Engineered Landfills

The concept of a technically engineered landfill and its requirements were explained. Flash cards

with several lines of varying breadth drawn on them to denote thickness of the liner lining a

sanitary landfill were given to participants. A thickness of less than 0.5 cm was the answer rightly

guessed by two groups, as opposed to the general expectation that a landfill expected to last for 25

years without any leakage as claimed by engineers would have the thickest plastic layer possible.

The participants on learning the actual thickness of the liner were convinced that the present

thickness could not prevent seepage and last 25 years as claimed by engineers. As per norms,

landfill gas must be released through pipes coming from the ground in sanitary landfills.

New Rules

Governments are now adopting new plans approved/recommended by the Clean Development

Mechanism and aiming at reducing greenhouse gases.

Regional landfills i.e. a big landfill for one whole region are being promoted as opposed to several

small landfills in different places as is the present situation. This is expected to make the situation

difficult for wastepickers as they will have to travel greater distances to reach the landfill.

The New Rules state that lesser quantities of waste be sent to the landfill and wet waste, recyclables

and toxic waste be excluded from going to the landfill. Every landfill must be technically engineeredand there should not be people but machines on the landfill as far as possible. Every landfill must

have a liner to prevent leakage and a cover too. Land filling has become a new money-making

business the group opined.

Waste Management Models

Existing models of managing solid waste were presented as below -

Model 1: De-centralised Door to Door Collection

Model 2: Phillipines where trucks loaded with waste stop at a designated spot cordoned off from

the landfill and wastepickers get access to waste here for half an hour for each truck; and the rest of

the non-recyclable waste goes to the enclosed landfill.

Model 3: England


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Session 5: A case study of Latin America that focus on the struggles and strategies used its

challenges and successes Lucia Fernandez

Lucia Fernandez, Global Wastepicker Coordinator, WIEGO presented the situation of wastepickers

and the landfill in Montevideo, Uruguays capital, Latin America.

Background:

Montevideo has a complex industrial system and thousands of wastepickers collect and sort waste,

sell it to small middlemen who then sell it to bigger middlemen and the scrap ultimately is bought

by the recycling industry which exports scrap such as metals to Brazil in large quantities for

recycling, while the paper and cardboard is recycled in Uruguay itself. 79% of the citys recycling is

done by 10,000 wastepickers. 40% of the waste generated by the citys estimated 13,26,000

population is dry unlike the 25% dry waste generated on an average in India.

Montevideos dumpsite is a sanitary landfill, where 1,800 tonnes ofwaste comes in daily in 540

municipal trucks. The landfill is known as a snail landfill as it has kept growing around itself like a

snail, with additional parts of land coming under the landfill.

Organising Wastepickers and Benefits:

The union of wastepickers of Montevideo - UCRUS was formed in 2001. Some wastepickers live

around the landfill and 120 wastepickers work individually and have gained authorization from the

local municipality.

30 special trucks with sizeable amounts of recyclables are accessed by UCRUS members on a street

in the landfill for the union members, after fighting for four years using various tactics like blockingthe entrance to the dumpsite and holding several demonstrations and meetings with municipal

officers. Working hours from 9 am 6 pm have been fixed for wastepickers at the landfill so that no

one has to work at the landfill at odd hours, the first step in being organized. Bio-medical waste is

specially treated in a designated area of the landfill.

Members have also begun selling waste together to get higher rates and have been given a space for

sorting. Unauthorised wastepickers or anyone else is not allowed inside the landfill. A cement

platform for 100 wastepicker members was built in 2005 so UCRUS members do not have to work

in the muck anymore.

Two cooperatives of wastepickers working at the new landfill have been formed and provided a

working space. Another cooperative has been set up outside the dumpsite in a nearby area.

In spite of all these victories over the past years, working conditions of wastepickers at the landfills

remain the same. Although they won a battle in 2010 against the privatization of the landfill, thanks


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to a broader alliance they had with the central union of workers (PIT CNT) and the municipal

workers themselves, the threat of privatization of the landfill still looms over the members.

Session 6: Brain storming on alternatives, Framing Strategic AIW demands and protecting

WPs livelihoods Laxmi Narayan

The session began with a game where the participants were split into pairs. One partner had to

clench his or her fist tight and the other one had to open the closed fist using any means. All

participants clenched their fists tight and a struggle ensued to open the closed fists.

The winners - those who succeeded in opening their partners fists were asked to share how they

did so. While explaining they said, they used force, or split up the fingers and open each one out

separately, or tickled the partner etc.

The game was used to explain symbolically that different strategies can be applied to achieve the

desired aim or objective. Different means of communication need to be used, and one need not andcannot use only forceful strategies to achieve objectives while working with the ULBs, Government,

etc.

Sometimes we need to appeal to them, to argue, to reason, to present facts, to humour them, to split

them up because of their own internal differences etc.

Participants were asked to name various strategies they had used and could use to put their points

across to municipalities and other policy makers:

1. Morcha2. Dharna3. Rally4. Filing of RTIs5. Signature campaign with wastepickers signatures or thumb impressions under list of

demands or concerns

6. Signature campaigns with the middle class to highlight concerns or sensitize residents7. Writeups in newspapers8. Celebrations of key events such as Landfill Day, Environment Day, etc9. Appointing lawyers to have access to the Government (Mmapula from South Africa)10.Public meetings with face to face interactions between wastepickers, Government and

companies, etc


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11.Campaigns in schools12.Street plays to create awareness among people who generate the maximum waste.13.Upcoming elections can be used with the opposition to highlight wastepickers issues and

concerns.

14.We can approach various persons who could assist us with our demands. For instance, if theMunicipal Commissioner is not cooperating as desired we can approach the local

Corporator or MLA for help. We can turn to different officials in different departments of the

Municipality, State as well as national Government and make it work for us.

Mapula from the Swai landfill in South Africa suggested that a police officer for environment

protection must be appointed at the landfill to prevent environment damaging practices from

occurring at the landfill.

Shefali Sheikh however was skeptical of this and said the police will not file a non-cognizable

complaint when you go to them, but they will readily come for a post mortem the next day.

Other suggestions included

AIW and its members need to approach policy makers instead of implementers for bringing about

favourable policy changes.

A change of mindset is essential for wastepicker members who must be ready to cultivate a work

ethic for working under supervision, for fixed hours or odd timings and be able to let go of their

present self-employed status and ensuing benefits.

The different target groups for advocacy efforts were also listed, which included -

- Urban Local Bodies - Municipalities Health department, administration or bureaucracy aswell as elected representatives

- State Ministries - Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Labour and Employment,Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment - both secretaries

and ministers

- National Ministries - Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Labour andEmployment, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment -both secretaries and ministers

Session 7: Feedback on the Workshop Jyoti Mhapsekar

Deepankar If we fight together against the Government, we will benefit.


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Imran Khan I got to know all that is happening the world over with landfill workers. In the future

when a similar workshop is organized, we will do our homework and come prepared with

information on how many wastepickers work on the landfill, the quantity of waste coming in etc.

Mapula It was good to meet new people, hear new thoughts. If incineration takes place back home,

then we should fight it, as the landfill is our place.

Aliou We do not have so many problems in the landfill and for wastepickers back in Senegal, but

we must all take a vow to fight this battle together.

Rani Shivsharan I realized that everywhere the situation of wastepickers is similar It gave me the

hope that we are going to do something for wastepickers.

A wastepicker member All our demands and thoughts are one, and so is our voice.

A wastepicker member I thought South Africa would have a different situation but I realized that

it all the same everywhere and felt like they are talking about Govandi itself. It was good to know

about the concerned laws.

A wastepicker member I was surprised to learn that Mumbai has the maximum mafia in landfills.

Santok Parmar Companywaalon hamaari maang poori karo (owners of companies fulfill our

demands) this should be our voice everywhere.

Sheela Trivedi How people organize and fight everywhere is what I learnt here.

Vandana Raut I know that we will come together on a platform and do something about this issue

and fight it.


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ANNEXURE 1

Gujarat:

Ahmedabad: Kanta Narsingh

I have been working at the dumping ground in Ahmedabad since 30 years. My mother-in-lawpicked waste for a living, and so does my daughter-in-law. We are poor people and do not have

money to educate our children so the children at home also go with me to pick waste.

10 years ago I would earn Rs. 150 everyday but ever since the textile mills in Ahmedabad have shut,

people who lost their jobs there have come to the landfill to pick waste and our income has fallen as

a result. There is less waste and less money now and more wastepickers. We have no access to

waste, most of which goes into the company. Door to door collection has now started and we have

not been included in it.

Every day we earn Rs. 50-60 and there are more mouths to feed at home now, and there are more

people in the dumping ground. The situation is worsening due to the new dumpsite which most goto now and we cannot go inside to access waste.

Trucks loaded with waste go inside the plant premises from 9 12 noon, when the trucks come out

into the landfill, many wastepickers break into the little waste that comes in, and by 12 noon its

time for me to go home.

Earlier, the Bhangi, Dhor, Chamar castes used to pick waste, other communities would feel shy to

engage in wastepicking. Now, Bhaiyyas, Muslims, Bengalis, Thakurs from villages within Gujarat

are also wastepicking. These new people are employed on the company trucks and sell the dry

waste they get while the wet waste goes to the company. I do not know how many trucks are going

inside the plant but they make coal out of waste.

The company employs outsiders for work, but they do not employ us, why is that? Our sons know

driving too, why not employ them?

Delhi:

Deepankar - Okhla Landfill

Companies want ID proof from us if we want to get work there. We do not have any ID proof. I have

been living near the landfill since 10 years in a slum on rent.

We do not earn too much because the waste that comes here is already sorted by villagers/people

like us who collect recyclables in the collection vehicles itself.


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In the summer, its very hot so we cannotwork for 12 hours to make more money. Its hot from

above (due to the suns heat) and heatis released from below also (the fumes released from the

garbage), and there are fires all around the landfill, so we work and earn less.

The landfill where we work is going to be closed soon and power is going to be generated there.

Over 500 wastepickers live and work at the landfill and are dependent on it and we will all soon beunemployed.

Omprakash Okhla Landfill

When the factory comes, waste will be burnt to make electricity.

Mumbai:

Nanda Gaikwad Govandi

There is a lot of difference in the dumping ground compared to when I used to work 10 years ago

and now. Earlier we used to get waste but we didnt get value for the waste. Now we do not get

waste, and even prices are difficult.

I work in the Stree Mukti Sanghatana office now.

Earlier we used to get fined for entering the dumping ground which was barred. Wed pay Rs. 25

per week as fine and sit in the police chowky till 5pm and we would lose out on work for that day.

Earlier there were no slums around the dumping ground, and when there would be fires on

dumping ground women would be stopped from going to pick waste in the dumping ground, and

were told that you light fires. But now because of slums surrounding the dumping ground wearent allowed entry into the dumping ground. People living in buildings complain about the stench,

filth and other problems.

In 1998, we began organising wastepickers and telling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

that wastepickers are helping the Corporation in their work and not causing fires. Wastepickers

were then allowed entry.

Since 2009, UPL company has taken the contract for waste management till 2018 which is why we

do notget waste and thats why the trucks do not empty waste at one place. Now women have to go

here and there in search of waste.

The company has bulldozers which pick up and throw waste here and there. When the bulldozers

lift the waste from the ground, heavy things in the waste fall on wastepickers heads. There are big

holes in the ground because of the bulldozers lifting waste from the ground and its very dangerous.

There are no facilities at the dumping ground like a shed, bathroom, drinking water etc.


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No one has thought about wastepickers, and neither do we think about our future because waste is

the main thing for us and our days pass in collecting and sorting waste day in and out.

Vimal Kaundar Mulund, Mumbai

I have been a wastepicker since 10 years of age. Earlier I worked at the Sion dumping ground which

shut and I have built a house for myself there.

I then worked at the Goregaon and Malad dumping grounds which also shut after which I began

working at the Govandi dumping ground.

Earlier we didnt need to pay money for entry at the Sion dumping ground which has become a

garden now. In Gorai we had to pay money, the dumping ground shut and is now full of buildings.

There are fires in the ground everywhere and after we enter the ground we realise there is a fire.

There are scrap shops inside the dumping ground and after collecting waste, we have to pay haftato the police, scrap dealer.

I travel to Mulund by train and rickshaw everyday. The monthly train pass comes to Rs. 150 and

rickshaw travel comes to Rs. 15 one way which we split amongst three of us. When I worked at the

Sion dumping ground, I could walk it to the dumping ground and hence there were no travel

expenses. The Mulund dumping ground will also shut soon now. 10 years ago there were not as

many people on the ground.

Shefali Sheikh Govandi, Mumbai

There are many non-ID card holders in the dumping ground besides ID card holders of Apnalaya,

SMS, Force. An estimated 3-4,000 people pick waste on the Govandi dumping ground.

Earlier we would collect waste from 9 am till whenever we wanted. The current situation is that the

company that is coming hasnt told us anything about what they are going to do have kept their

plans a secret, so we do not know what they are going make out of waste.

They are making mountains of waste. Now the bull dozers just lift the waste and drop it onto the

mountain which children also climb. A child recently died due to this, because he was lifted by a

bulldozer along with the waste. The bulldozer was pushing the child into the waste and people tried

to save the child but the 10 year old child died. Several people have broken their hands and legs, etc

while working at the dumping ground.

There is a lot of mafia in the dumping ground and they roam in the dumping ground with swords.

They have a loop where the trucks go into and only the gangsters accomplices collect waste from

here.


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We have to think about other people in our organisation since we do not work alone, so we have to

think about our brothers and sisters also and we just cannot go on filling our stomachs. Our

challenge is that wastepickers should be given alternate livelihoods.

Jabiullah Ansari Govandi, Mumbai

When the BMC was in charge of waste collection and dumping, trucks would come into the dumping

ground every 2-3 hours, thats not the case now. They make mountains of waste and the drivers

drive like crazy, crushing our maal (recyclables) and even people if they are in their way.

When the BMC was there, were no accidents because they would stop when we called out to them

to stop. But now when we shout out to the private truck drivers, they do not listen and accidents

now occur every day. The drivers ask for money, Rs. 100 or so from us when there is good waste.

Now we do not have time to sort waste, our earnings have reduced and expenses have risen.

In the future, we will find it difficult to get even Rs. 100. We will have to pay money for waste, theywill beat us with sticks and make us run away. There seem to be only two options remaining one

is to leave it all and go or come together and be united.

Gareebon ka hakk kitna, shram kitna, Hisaab do Hisaab lo!!!

Nanda Navi Mumbai

I have been wastepicking since 20 years. I first picked waste at the Nerul landfill, then at

Koparkhairane, and I now go to Turbhe.

We work for 6-8hrs a day and get as much waste as we want. We 15-20 women work for 6-8 hours,

members of SMS are not too many, but other non-member wastepickers do not listen to us when

we repeat the advantages of becoming a member.

I spend Rs. 25 on transport daily to go to dumping ground and return because I have to travel from

Nerul to Navi Mumbai.

We have no problems at our dumping ground, we have water, waste, and trucks loaded with waste

also come here. We sell waste to the scrap dealer who comes from Mumbai, because in Navi

Mumbai, panni (light plastic) is not taken by all kaatawaalas (scrap dealers) and the rates are lower

here.

The local corporator here has started his own organisation and started his own waste collection

vehicle and given us ID cards.


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Baban Gaikwad - Thane

After 3 pm we have no entry on the dumping ground and the watchman harasses us, and the

dumping ground is very small in Thane.

Pune

Sangita Shinde Urali Devachi Landfill

A private contractor has outsourced waste collection to labourers from outside and hasnt provided

employment to local wastepickers. So, we are all completely jobless with no access to waste. We

tried various arrangements earlier like buying the waste from the company but right now our entry

is restricted. We are trying to start a zero waste model i.e. a door step collection scheme and

compost facilities within the village so we can work there instead.

Uttar Pradesh:

Kiran Kosambi, Ghaziabad Landfill

We get waste from societies after paying Rs. 300 per month for the waste. A jamedaar comes and

gives us the waste and we pay him money too.

Earlier there wasnt much give and take of money as far as access to waste was concerned, but now

it is happening extensively and a lot of people ask for money and we do not have enough to pay

them as well as feed our children. We pay rent, electricity charges for our homes.

We sort waste in our front yard which causes illnesses, smells and other problems. We sell

recyclables and dump the non-recyclables.

Abhi to li angdai hai, aage aur bhi ladaai hai!!!

South Africa

Mmapula Baloyi: Hammerskraal, Swai

South African Wastepickers Association (SAWA) is the name of the organisation I am representing. Iwork in Swais landfill called Hammerskraal in South Africa.

SAWA has a Chairman, a President and a Treasurer. Districts in South Africa come together to form

a province, and all provinces come together to form the national structure of SAWA. There are

representatives for each province who come together to take decisions.


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South Africas wastepickers came together to form a union at the national level, but we do not have

an organisation in every city and thats why people on the landfill are alone as there is no work with

landfill workers to strengthen their voice. We have municipal workers who collect waste from the

city and get a municipal salary, but they also collect dry waste from sorting and selling recyclables

during work hours.

It is thus important to organise landfill workers, as municipal workers deny us our rights, and the

Government does not allow us to make demands for ourselves.

Due to our poverty, our children visit landfill sites to collect food to eat. Hotels and airlines dump

their food in dumping ground. There are lots of risks in the site, but the children are uncontrollable

and can get injured by the machines.

Sometimes the municipality does not organize things well, many trucks come to the landfill all at

once, and where to put the waste becomes a big confusion.

Since we work alone we sell scrap alone too, hence the scrap dealer has total control over scrap

prices. But if we sell together, then we will get more profit. The middlemen buy scrap from us, sort

the scrap further and sell it to the wholesaler, this chain continues, and they make money on our

labour.

We had started a cooperative but we did not know how to run it, and because of lack of

communication between members and municipalities, it shut down. There are no relationships or

cooperation between the municipality and wastepickers.

Where there is a high amount of waste, they directly send waste to recycling plants and only the

remaining waste comes to us and we lose most of the waste. Companies employ outsiders so its

easier to exploit them as that cannot be done with locals. When dumping grounds shut in South

Africa wastepickers go elsewhere.

There is no control on the waste dumped on our site, chemicals, toxins, etc can also come in and this

affects our health.

Most wastepickers do nothave ID, documents needed to make IDs or the resources needed to

make IDs, so many wastepickers say that they have no family to inform in case oftheir death and

neither do we get any compensation in case of accidents.

Only blacks work in dumping grounds in small towns, but Indians, whites and blacks also work in

cities. We have heard that Waste an American pelletisation company will start work in 2012.

On hearing Mmapulas testimony, the participants said the following -

Kohinoor Bibi I felt like your problems and mine are the same.

Shefali Sheikh I think you should have your own shop and sell waste there.


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Senegal

Aliou Faye: Mbeusmbeus landfill, Dakar

The watepicker organization in Dakar is Bokk Diom which was set up in 1995 and is recognized by

a Minister of the Government of Senegal. I have been appointed as the Vice President there. Bokk

Diom came into being due to the frustration of wastepickers for not being respected in society and

the need to have a place to discuss their concerns and exchange ideas, to reinforce solidarity among

wastepickers and to defend their interests and to empower women wastepickers.

Bokk Diom has built a community house for wastepickers with support from ENDA and PNUD, a

nursing centre, a literacy-alphabetization centre, a health cooperative, a credit and savings

cooperative and a health house rehabilitationfor wastepickers.

Our landfill is probably going to close in August 2011 but the closure of the landfill has been

speculated many times in the past 8-9 years. 1,200 wastepickers are presently working at the

landfill, out of which 800 are members of Bokk Diomm.

The municipality has proposed the creation of a recycling space for 350 wastepickers associated

with Bokk Diomm with high improvement of their working conditions including housing facilities, a

health care centre and a restaurant within the recycling area. Pension for aged wastepickers and

abolition of child labour at the dumpsite has also been proposed by the municipality.

This however leaves the future of the remaining 850 wastepickers in jeopardy and poses a big

question on how to handle this and whether we should abandon our brothers and sisters and go for

the recycling space or rally together.


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List of Participants:

Sr No Name Organisation

1 Santok Parmar SEWA

2 Kanta Narsingh SEWA

3 Sheela Trivedi SEWA

4 Kohinoor Bibi AIKMM

5 Kiran AIKMM

6 Sangita KKPKP Pune

7 Savita Ukirde KKPKP Pune

8 Gangubai KKPKP Pune

9 Mahananda KKPKP Pune

10 Mangal Rajput KKPKP Pune

11 Rani Shivsharan KKPKP Pune

12 Dharmesh Shah GAIA

13 Deepankar Chintan

14 Kareem Ali Safai Sena

15 Imran Khan Chintan

16 Bablu Chintan

17 Omprakash Safai Sena

18 Mmapula Baloyi S A

19 Aliou Faye Bokk Diom

20 Fanny Chantereau Intern with SNDT

21 Lucia Fernandez WIEGO

22 Manda Ahbhore Stree Mukti Sanghatana

23 Nanda Gaikwad Stree Mukti Sanghatana

24 Vimal Kaundar Stree Mukti Sanghatana

25 Nisha Bandekar Stree Mukti Sanghatana


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26 Shobha Shinde Stree Mukti Sanghatana

27 Babanbai Gaikwad Stree Mukti Sanghatana

28 Raju Chavhan Apnalaya

29 Jabiullah Ansari Kachra Kamgaar Sanghatana

30 Shefali Sheikh Kachra Kamgaar Sanghatana

31 Chitra Zende Stree Mukti Sanghatana

32 Asha Gaikwad Stree Mukti Sanghatana

33 Hemlata Surve Stree Mukti Sanghatana

34 Nanda Shelke Stree Mukti Sanghatana

35 Lakshmi More Aakar Mumbai

36 Nitin Kubal Aakar Mumbai

37 Dada Borude Aakar Mumbai

38 Milind Arondekar Aakar Mumbai

39 Jyoti Mhapsekar Stree Mukti Sanghatana

40 Poornima Chikarmane KKPKP Pune

41 Lakshmi Narayan KKPKP Pune

42 Bharati Chaturvedi Chintan

43 Dana Kornberg Volunteer - AIKMM

44 Shashi Pandit AIKMM

45 Meena Kumar CNISSI

46 Tara Bagh CNISSI

47 Vandana Raut CNISSI

48 Nalini Shekar KKPKP Pune

49 Neha Govindan KKPKP Pune

50 Varsha Parchure Apnalaya

51 Ashwini Barve SNDT

minutes of landfill workshop 2-3june 2011 mumbai

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