Urban Waste Disposal, Land Degradation and Rural- Urban Migration

Introduction

This article provides Urban Waste Disposal, Land Degradation, and Rural-Urban Migration. This topic regularly appears in UPSC exams because it is relevant to current affairs. The basics of the subject can be picked up from the NCERT textbook and supplemented with current information and case studies.

The rural-urban migration adds pressure on Indian cities, where planning and implementation are already inadequate and problematic. Eventually, urban areas end up facing more problems such as traffic congestion, pollution, weather change, waste disposal issues, and land degradation.

Urban Waste Disposal

Urban areas may be at the forefront of development, but they have many problems that contribute to increased waste. Some of these problems include overcrowding, congestion, inadequate planning, and lack of facilities for a large population. All these together result in unsanitary conditions and poor air and water quality.

Generally, two kinds of urban waste are generated, solid and liquid waste.

Solid waste includes biodegradable and non-biodegradable components disposed of from households and industrial establishments. In recent years, many urban areas have defined rules for sorting the waste collected from households. However, improper implementation has resulted in the waste collected from cities being dumped into landfills, public lands, or private contractor sites.In metro cities, 90% of the waste is disposed of correctly. But in other towns and cities, only 30% of the waste is treated. Most of it accumulates in the open. Sometimes, waste, including sewage, is dumped in rivers without proper treatment, causing water pollution.

A case study presented by Daurala Industries related to groundwater contamination with heavy metals shows how collaboration between industrialists, an NGO, and the village community can help. Activities such as tree planting, rainwater harvesting, desilting of the village pond, and increasing overhead tank capacity were undertaken as part of this project.

The following effects of solid waste are especially concerning:

• Urban solid waste causes significant health hazards
• Harbour disease vectors such as flies and rodents
• Ashes and debris from industries, power plants, and construction produce matter pollution
• Rag pickers and waste sorters working without inadequate protective gear might contract infections
• Leaching of chemicals into groundwater
• Social conflict with communities living near landfills is a possibility
• Death of aquatic animals if solid waste is dumped in water bodies is a possibility

Rural-Urban Migration

Many migrants are classified as unskilled labour due to the lack of adequate skills. Hence, they are forced to take up low-paying jobs. They are primarily engaged in the unorganised sector.

Before the pandemic, the migration patterns largely saw movement from rural to urban areas. It has decelerated now. However, it remains to be seen how much development will come to rural areas.

The following are the reasons for the rural-urban migration:

1. Limited job opportunities in rural areas, especially for graduates, causes people to migrate from rural areas.
2. A change in the sectoral contribution from agricultural activities to the country’s GDP while the share of services rises steadily has resulted in people migrating from rural areas. This is because service jobs are concentrated in urban areas.
3. Social conflict and caste-system-related oppression result in migration. 
4. Better quality of education and health services in cities is also a major cause of migration. 
5. The possibility of earning higher incomes in urban areas is a lucrative proposition for migration. 
6. Rural indebtedness is another serious cause of migration to urban areas.

Male members from rural families usually migrate to urban areas in many families. They remit a portion of their income to their families living in rural areas. They may own unproductive land or face underemployment during the non-planting season in their native places. Most rural inhabitants are involved in primary production activities.

The Level of Industrialisation and Urbanisation in India 

With industrialisation and urbanisation, the divide between urban and rural areas has widened. The government has launched many schemes to bridge the gap in the last few years. But the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Sadak Yojana have had the biggest impact.

Urban centres are not undifferentiated homogenous entities. Not all parts of an urban area develop equally, showing socio-economic, politico-cultural, and other differences in indicators. Some localities have a high level of cleanliness and well-planned layouts, but others are congested and lack basic amenities.Underdeveloped areas are called slums and are home to people earning minimum wages. Poor sanitary conditions, erratic water and electricity supply, disease, overcrowding, poor ventilation and air quality, and the lack of lighting and potable water are the characteristics of slums. The Dharavi slum is a famous example. 

Such conditions exacerbate the social problems of slums, such as:

• Alcoholism
• Drug Abuse
• Domestic violence
• Vandalism
• Restricted upward mobility
• Class discrimination
• Apathy and escapism

Land Degradation

Land degradation is the phenomenon where a temporary or permanent deterioration of the productive capacity of the soil occurs. It is becoming a global challenge. Some land types are naturally degraded and do not support production. This occurs due to natural processes. Such lands include badlands with gullies and ravines, deserts, glacial lands, steep slopes, and salty coastal sands. 

Some lands degrade because of a mix of human and natural factors such as marshes and swamps or areas where salinity or alkalinity changes over time. However, in recent years, man-made causes have been the biggest contributor to land degradation. Such lands include barren agricultural areas, arid lands due to loss of tree cover, land degraded by the pressure of shifting cultivation, deforestation, abandoned mines, and industrial wastelands.

The main causes of man-made land degradation are:

• The overuse of fertilisers and pesticides
• Overgrazing
• Desertification
• Deforestation, which enhances soil erosion
• Not allowing enough fallow time
• Unsustainable management of land
• Plantation boom due to high demand for sugar, cocoa, and palm oil.

A case study of land management in the Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh shows that proper management by the community can control degradation. The region has many tribal people and high poverty. NGOs have partnered with these tribes to manage watershed development programmes.Recently, an ISRO document titled “Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas” demonstrated a rise in the size of such areas over 15 years. More than 23% of the degraded areas are in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Ladakh, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Telangana.

Conclusion

The world population is set to rise to 9.7 billion by 2050. This is going to put immense pressure on the available resources. Considering the current urbanisation and migration trends, the pressure on urban areas will only grow. It is vital to improve solid waste management and promote recycling and circular economy development. It is particularly important to control industrial contributions. Development should go hand-in-hand with sustainability. Also, as the climate gets hotter, land degradation will be a more severe problem. Water tables are declining globally as sea levels rise.It may also result in displacement among the poor living in rural areas and low-lying regions of the world. In such cases, migration to urban areas will only put more pressure on cities. Sustaining a large population across various cities will become increasingly difficult in the coming years.