India is often called a pluralistic nation where different cultures, religions and customs meld into a fragile harmony which is strong at its core. But what is often not mentioned is how poverty and rapid urbanization co-exist. This duality is nowhere more visible in the capital of India. Delhi is a city crumbling under its own weight—both literal and that of expectations. On one hand is the Lutyens’ zone with wide avenues, boulevards dotted with trees, clean roads and a general sense of space and time. On the other hand is the “rest of Delhi”, marked by narrow roads, rapid concretization, unauthorized colonies, Jhuggi-Jhopri (JJ) clusters, clogged sewer lines and garbage strewn everywhere and anywhere? It is a dark demonstration of the perils of lopsided urbanization and an unsustainable increase in population.

SWACHATA CAMPAIGN ‘Teen Kadam Swachhata Ki Aur’

Delhi, with a population of 1.80 crores generates approximately 8390 tonnes of waste per day— a highly conservative estimate. On-the-ground research shows that the quantity of waste produced is actually around shocking 12,000 tonnes per day, 80% of which is dumped indiscriminately at the various landfill sites by the municipal authorities. Also, Delhi’s network of 30 sewage treatment plants (STPs) caters to only 45% of the city’s population. Yet each of us generates waste flagrantly, without thinking of the repercussions at the macro scale.

With tons of waste produced by us on daily basis it becomes important to initiate effective management of the waste. And to accomplish this, cooperation and contribution of everyone is needed. As they say -“Little drops make an ocean” your little efforts is what Hara Jeevan wants, to convert Delhi into a clean and green city.

Basically, Waste management boils down to waste segregation. And waste segregation is the separation of biodegradable waste from non biodegradable waste for proper disposal and recycling.

So the three main types of waste that you should know so that you can put the right waste in the right bin are-

Food and garden waste (green bin) – Biodegradable waste
Recyclable waste (blue bin) – Sellable waste that generate income
Non-recyclable waste (red bin) – Non degradable waste

And after seeing this and knowing that Delhi is crumbling very fast how can one just sit back and watch, so ‘HARA JEEVAN’ and ‘SAMPOORNA’ decided to make people aware about the problem and condition of waste management in Delhi and decided to launch SWACHATA CAMPAIGN ‘Teen Kadam Swachhata Ki Aur’ on 23rd December 2017 at B Block market, Prashant Vihar to promote waste segregation, waste treatment, benefits of composting and drawbacks of using plastic bags. The name – ‘Teen KadamSwachhata Ki Aur’ was given to campaign because of the need of 3 bin segregation to be done at source level (in homes, schools, offices, shops).

The campaign was inaugurated and accompanied by Shri Vijendra Gupta who is the hard-working and respected MLA of Rohini constituency.