The Cleanest Cities Of India | Ep-5 | Karad's successful management & destigmatizing sanitary waste

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Cleanest Cities of India
Episode 1: Indore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYWgFE5X4yM&t=61s
Episode 2: Kakinada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jXwHisi8WM
Episode 3: Paradeep: https://youtu.be/kD5ioBizZB8
Episode 4: Mysuru: https://youtu.be/Sy0qm5JNL6I
Episode 5: Karad: https://youtu.be/09PF8x3b4DE

Over 12.3 billion disposable sanitary pads are generated every year in India. That’s an average of 35 million pads per day.

And forget about processing this waste, almost 50% is not even getting collected.

According to data on menstrual waste management from the MDWS, 28 per cent of such pads are thrown in the open and 15 per cent are burnt openly. *Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

But a small City in Satara District of Maharashtra has become a role model of Sanitary waste management for the entire country. In Karad, 100 per cent of sanitary waste and biomedical waste is segregated, collected and processed separately.

This is easier said than done. Especially in a country where the topic of sanitary waste carries social stigma.

Situated on the confluence of Krishna and Koyna River, Karad always had a rich legacy when it comes to waste management practices. Towards the late 90s, the rise in the percentage of plastic and unsegregated collection of waste turned the city’s processing site into a landfill. Karad was also slowly turning into a medical hub which in turn generated biomedical waste. The unsegregated household waste got mixed with biomedical waste creating all sorts of problems for the municipality.

But Karad wasn’t willing to drag its proud legacy to its drains. And so, the authorities along with the people of Karad decided to get their city back on track.

Despite being a small city, the Karad Municipal Council along with the hospital association formed a unique biomedical waste processing facility with a capacity of 30kg per hour.

Sanitary waste segregation was always a challenge in India due to the taboo associated with it. Karad was no different. A good percentage of the Sanitary waste ended up clogging the city’s drains and public places.

The Municipal Council also encouraged schools to set up Sanitary pad dispensary machines and Sanitary waste disposal systems. After a two-month-long exercise,100 per cent of households in Karad started giving sanitary waste separately for collection. The administration then made an agreement with the biomedical waste treatment facility at Kharad colony, to process the Sanitary waste without any additional cost to the KMC.

Today, Karad has ended up being a flag bearer of Sanitary and biowaste management in India.
The city also has reclaimed the landfill plot by cleaning around 59,000 tonnes of legacy waste using methods like biomining. Authorities of Karad are planning to make their waste management systems better with modern technologies.

Effective collaboration between agencies and shared responsibilities has indeed been the USP for Karad’s success with a cycle of people and KMC working in synergy has resulted in creating a city they can proudly call clean.


Down to Earth is Science and Environment fortnightly published by the Society for Environmental Communication, New Delhi. We publish news and analysis on issues that deal with sustainable development, which we scan through the eyes of science and environment.