THESIS PROPOSAL

Submitted By: Benison B. Mathew

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TITLE: An Ethical Appraisal on Waste Management, with Special Reference to

Pathanamthitta district, Kerala.
Statement of the Problem:

India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world; the growth of our economy has put strain on
environment due to the uncontrollable waste. The waste management is not carried properly; Therefore,
this is an attempt to explore as in how to manage waste through waste generation, collection, disposal and
management for Pathanamthitta district and some possible suggestions to overcome the problems
associated with Waste Management.

Elaboration of the Problem:

The water has moved back in Kerala after floods, but the state's troubles haven't ended. Deadly rat fever had
gripped the state Kerala due to the tonnes of waste accumulated in flood affected area. Many people had
died due to the rat fever. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan had also directed the health and local self - government
departments to focus on the waste management and set up a high-level team to handle waste management
in the state. However, locals are of the opinion that volunteers and local bodies cannot handle the massive
waste generated after the floods. They allege that the waste management is not being carried out properly
in the areas.1 Pathanamthitta district, the highly literate district, is been facing alarming health risk posed by
the environmental pollution owing to the alleged negligence on the part of the civic authorities as well as the
official machinery in ensuring proper waste disposal, sanitation and pollution control measures.
Pathanamthitta municipality continues to dump all sorts of solid waste at the open yards near the private
bus stand, behind the municipal office and along the Ring Road. The negligence of the municipal authorities
towards safe waste disposal has made life miserable to the general public. Dumping of the stinking waste
from the slaughter house, fish market and vegetable market along the Ring Road has become a major
pollution menace in the town posing epidemics all over. 2 It is a dangerous situation if streets remain dumped
with heaps of waste, therefore, pointing the essential need of Waste Management in Pathanamthitta
district.

Significance of the Problem:

A natural part of the life cycle, waste occurs when any organism returns substances to the environment.
Living things take in raw materials and excrete wastes that are recycled by other living organ isms. However,
humans produce an additional flow of material residues that would overload the capacity of natural recy-
cling processes, so these wastes must be managed in order to reduce their effect on our aesthetics, health,
or the environment. In the case of Pathanamthitta district, solid and fluid, hazardous and non-toxic wastes

1
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Solid-waste-menace-posing-public-health-risk-in-Pathanamthitta/
article16242481.ece
2
https://www.proptiger.com/guide/post/kerala-is-having-waste-management-issues
are been generated in households, offices, schools, hospitals, hotels and industries. No society is immune
from day-to-day issues associated with waste disposal. How waste is handled often depends on its source
and characteristics, as well as any local, state, and federal regulations that govern its management. 3

Waste management is all of the activities that handle waste materials, from the time it is made to its
disposal. The most important reason for proper waste management is to protect the environment and for
the health and safety of the population. Certain types of waste can be hazardous and can pollute the
environment.4 Bad waste management practices can also cause land and air pollution which can result in
serious medical conditions in humans and animals. Implementing good waste management practices not
only helps to protect the environment, also humans. Therefore, appropriate methods are needed to be used
for the management of waste to be effective.5

Scope and Limitation:

The scope of this work will be helpful for homes, schools, institutions, hospitals and hotels, in managing their
waste to have a better environment and healthy life conditions than they have now, especially for the
people of Pathanamthitta district. This work has its own certain limitations such as it would be useful for the
locality pertaining to Pathanamthitta district. It is also limited to Pathanamthitta municipality area.

Previous Research:

In general, there are many works and data collection done on the topic of waste management in connection
with Kerala but there is no other thesis related to the ethical concern of waste management specific to
Pathanamthitta district in theological circle. This makes my thesis research work to be different from the
general data collections.

Method of Research:

My method of research will be done through a Responsibility Mode of approach by having an empirical
study i.e. (a). Data collected through different people, (b). Library Based and (c). Online data.

Chapterization:

Chapter One: Waste Management: Analytical study on the Present Models available.

Chapter Two: Demography of Pathanamthitta district (Data Collection).

Chapter Three: Major issues, challenges in relation to Waste Management.

Chapter Four: Solutions, Implications and Suggestions in connection with Waste Management.

3
M. S. Bhatt and Asheref Illiyan, Solid Waste Management: An Indian Perspective (Bangalore: Synergy Books, 2001), pg 51.
4
Robin Jeffery and Assa Doron, Waste of Nation: Garbage and Growth in India (London: Harvard Unity Press, 2018) pg 65.
5
Bas Wielanga, Towards an Eco-Just Society (Bangalore: Ramdev Gardens, 1999), pg. 92.
Bibliography:

 Agarwal, Anil, ed. Down to Earth. New Delhi: Tughlakabad Institutional Area, 2001.
 Board, Nir. Modern Technology of Waste Management: Pollution Control, Recycling Treatment &
Civilization. Delhi: Asia Pacific Business Press Inc., 2010.
 Chowdhary, Pankaj and Ram Naresh Bharagava, eds. Emerging and Eco – Friendly Approaches for
Waste Management. Singapore: Springer International Publishers, 2017.
 Illiyan, Asheref and M. S. Bhatt. Solid Waste Management: An Indian Perspective. Bangalore:
Synergy Books, 2012.
 Jeffery, Robin and Assa Doron. Waste of Nation: Garbage and Growth in India. London: Harvard
Unity Press, 2018.
 Ramachandra, T.V. Management of Municipal Solid Waste. Delhi: TERI Press, 2009.
 Sundaram, Rajkumar and Marimuthu Prashanthi, eds. Integrated Waste Management in India:
Status and Future Prospects for Environmental Sustainability. Switzerland: Springer International
Publishing, 2012.
 Wielanga, Bas. Towards an Eco-Just Society. Bangalore: Ramdev Gardens, 1999.
 Williams, Eric and Ramzy Kahhat, eds. E-Waste Management: From Waste to Resource. Derby:
Saxon Graphic Ltd., 2013.