PROJECT

REPORT
Cities And Waste

PRESENTED TO
Pritpal Singh Randhawa

PRESENTED BY
Vaibhav vishal
 FIELD PROJECT ON
WASTE MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction 3

Methodology 4

Description of the field site 6

About Pickers 7

Challenges 8

What they want 9

NGOs 11

Coivd-19 Effect 12

conclusion 13
 INTRODUCTION
Waste management is an important aspect of the urban infrastructure since it
ensures environmental and human health protection. It is a very political issue as
well as a technical environmental concern. Waste management is intertwined with
a variety of concerns, including urban lifestyles, resource consumption patterns,
work and income levels, as well as other socioeconomic and cultural aspects.

The current report provides a brief overview of the waste sector's development in
Seemapuri (Delhi), as well as a current status description of waste pickers' situation
and the issues they face. What They wish to better their lifestyle, or who can assist
them, and the focus of the report is limited to municipal solid waste management
(MSW).

We are three UGies of Ambedkar University Delhi Vaibhav,Tanishq and sahil

contucted a field project or having few interviews of ragpickes and some NGOs
 PROJECT REPORT

SEEMAPURI
Description of the field site

Seemapuri is mainly a rural zone in Delhi

and people may not be too friendly or
inviting to outsiders due to the fact that
they are mostly rough in their behaviour
and rude by inherent characteristics.

The reasons could be pollution, filthy

surroundings, high incidence of poverty,
child labour, unemployment and
addiction etc. A large contingent of
people poured in as refugees from
Bengal and Bangladesh and gradually,
others also joined from states like U.P,
Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh
and so on. Most of them live in small
little miserable broken huts. New
Seemapuri is situated at one end of north
east Delhi.

Some are daily wage earners, street vendors, domestic helps, and many other menial jobs
which are the main stay of their sustenance. Few of them are also shopkeepers, rickshaw
pullers and semi skilled labourers working in the construction sector. The fact remains
that many of the families are unable to feed their children with the meagre earnings they
make.
 PROJECT REPORT

500-700
RAGPICKERS
with 10k to 12k income Per month

40

Age wise
distribution of 30

the rag pickers. 20

Increasing Every year 10

0
8-25 25-35 35-50 50-60 above 60
 PROJECT REPORT

LIFE OF RAGPICKERS
IN
SEEMAPURI
Most of the rag pickers in Seemapuri
They collect the waste from the colonies
collect the garbage from areas in
and bring it into their area and start up
Lakshminagar, Suryanagar, i
with their process of segregation of
Saveednagar and other near by places,
waste into different categories. Majorly
many of the colonies pay them on the
identified categories of the waste are
monthly basis for picking up the
paper and cardboard, plastics,
garbaqes and the get around 400-300
metal(aluminimum wire, scrap
permonth from dfterent colones. While
iron),glass waste roti(animal eatables).
picking up the Garbage they sequeste at
They bring it to seemapuri and after the
the same time in their theli and throw
process of segregation they sell different
the garbage of no value to them at an
garbage to different dealers dealing in
open ground called Kaththa.
the particular category, dealers like
pappu bhai. All of these goods have
different price at which they usually sell. Glass 30rs/kg
After the garbage has been sold to the Paper 10rs/kg
dealers, these dealers further segregate Plastic 10rs/kg
them in terms of their quality and the Iron 20rs/kg
most of this job is done by the woman of Aluminium 90rs/kg
the area. They then sell these garbage Blodegradable waste (roti ,pasta,grams etc) 4.50/kg
bags to the supplier of the area. Next
step is when different suppliers send
their truck to the recycling plants, After
it gets to the factory they get recycled.
 PROJECT REPORT

While shopping in the market or travelling

we must have noticed women and children
carrying huge bags over their shoulders full
of polythene bags, plastic bottles, paper,
metal parts and other useless items. People
avoid them, dogs chase them, and the police
intimidate, abuse, and frequently beat them
away. We have no idea how these ostensibly
"filthy" people will help to keeping our city
clean. However, we are unaware that when
we consume branded wafers and colas and
discard the empty packets and cans on the
streets, these individuals pick them up and
recycle them.

These individuals contribute to the life of

our cities by clearing trash from the streets
and pavements and by assisting the
environment by recycling things that we
would otherwise discard. The majority of
rag-pickers are impoverished, illiterate, and
come from rural migrant households. Adults
and children are both forced into this
dangerous occupation by poverty. E-waste,
medical waste, and a variety of dangerous Despite contributing in terms of maintaining
gases and compounds are all present in the cleanliness and protecting our environment,
rag-pickers' environment. They labour these people are treated as illegal and
barefoot, with no gloves or other protective unwelcome residents in our cities. Let us
gear. These youngsters are exposed to all of acknowledge the contribution made by
the world's ills, violence, abuse, risks, and these ‘invisible’ people. These poor people
challenges during those vulnerable years are trying to earn their livelihood with
when we lived in safety. dignity and thus let us treat them with
respect and equality, giving them the dignity
they seek.

NGO S
The area also has a number of NGOs
working for different purposes. One such
NGO is Patterns for Poor People
Foundation' which focuses on improving the
education provided by the government
schools in Seemapuri. Started four years
back by Muhammad Umar, the NGO claims
to have filed numerous RTIs against the
improper functioning of schools here but to
no avail. The foundation has expanded a lot
in a very: short span of time. "When we
started in 2010, there were hardly any
teachers in the schools but now at least
teachers are there. Though they are on
contract basis, we are glad that we have
been able to do this. Moreover, we have not
received any kind of fund from anyone till
date nor do we want any such help", stated
the forty five year old who also deals in
scrap business.
ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2025
Another NGO which has made incredible
efforts is 'Action India'. Founded in
1976, the NGO's main focus is informing
the women in the area about their health
& reproductive rights and making toilets
available in each & every household of
Seemapuri. "We visit the streets to
inform kids and women about their legal
rights. We are focusing on promoting
sanitation in Seempuri. Moreover, all the
women panchayats in Delhi are run by
us only", said Abhishek Mital, one of the
volunteers. The Jangpura based NGO
has been a recipient of both domestic as
well as international sponsorships."
Where the government has failed to take
any steps to uplift this area till now, the
people stil seem hopeful that the Modi
Sarkar' will bring the promised change
in their lives. As time passes it will be
interesting to see if the people of
Seemapuri witness a ray of hope in their
lives or does the distress prevails.
 PROJECT REPORT

• ‘Patterns for Poor People Foundation’
which focuses on improving the education
provided by the government schools in
Seemapuri.
Rag pickers are responsible for our recycling
almost 20% of the country’s waste.
Globally, studies show the most critical link
in waste management supply chain is the
RAG PICKER

•‘Action India’. Founded in 1976, the NGO’s

main focus is informing the women in the
area about their health & reproductive
rights and making toilets available in each &
every household of Seemapuri.

•‘Pardarshita’ works in the area of Advocacy

and Research, Education & Literacy, Health
& Nutrition, Right to Information &
Advocacy, Urban Development & Poverty
Alleviation.
 ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2025

Challenges
FACED BY THEM ON A DAILY BASIS

They operate in extremely harsh conditions

where they have to face extremity of climate
as well as the fear of being removed from 01 Uneducated
the place as they are illgal migrants from
different locations in India as well as
Bangladesh maiorly. They work in the
pressure of earning their daily livelihood as
well as coming to the physical context of 02 Health issue
their occupation, i its extremely unhygienic
to work in in the garbage, there are also
many injuries due to the l sharp objects
been thrown into the garbage and it is
extremely toxic to work with thel plastic 03 low wage
which is their major category to deal with.

04 hygienization

05 Equality
 PROJECT REPORT

Their attitude towards their work clearly
says that they personally don't like the
work and neither they want to do it but
still somewhere respect it as it earns
their livelihood. They dislike their work
which is clear because they say that they
don't want their children to be like them
and this awareness has also resulted in
increase in child education somewhere.
They can sometimes be rude to you as
they mind their work and nothing else as
there are very less people who are polite
with them. They are the people who
utilize the resources to their fullest as
they know the value of it.
We also came across some of the very
interesting parts of the process as the
resources were fully utilized as these people
even sell the food we throw for the use of
the farmers and tabela walas for their
animals and manure. We also saw the
people extracting thei small eftovers of
indigo liquid from the bottles and collecting
them and using them as the inks to write on
the sacks. They also utlize the sacks that are
thrown out by our housesi as well as majorly
from the cotton mills to collect their
garbage.

Unfortunately, society doesn t feel

sensitive enough that they should feel
about thesei people, they barely talk to
these people or even come out of their
house gates. Some people talk to them
and some people even get angry on
them for no use. People even avoid to
touch them.
Aspirations
Their aspirations aren't much but to
survive in this place and to make their
children dol something better than this,
they just don't want their children to be
in this thing and want them to be
educated.
 ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2025

DURING COVID-19
COVID 19 has revealed a number of previously unseen stories.
The unsung heroes of India's trash dilemma have received far less
respect and recognition than they deserve. Ragpickers, who
make a career by collecting dry garbage such as plastic bottles,
glass bottles, tin containers, and plastic caps, are nearly invisible
in the COVID19 response.

"Construction workers and wage "The shutdown presented us with a

labourers can work on a construction
site or in any workplace, with a
guaranteed daily pay." However, we are
at a crossroads because our earnings are
based on the amount of rubbish we
collect. We can't pick up rubbish or sell
it during the epidemic since there aren't
any takers due to factory closures and
the lack of those intermediaries. We
have nowhere to go and are left in a
state of despair,"
According to research reports, the
number of ragpickers in our country is
estimated between 1.5 million and 4
million and their contribution to our
economic activity worths about ₹3200
crores. But the irony is that we offer
them the poorest in our societies
significant problem. We can't relax in
public areas anymore, and we don't
have a place to reside. Our lives have
been a living hell. We don't have any
money or food since we can't ragpick.
"We're in a life-or-death position with
only a sliver of hope," adds Amar, who
has also been warned by the local police
to be severely assaulted if they are
spotted on the streets or in any public
location.
Thousands of ragpickers families in
Noida and portions of Uttar Pradesh are
battling to live since the government of
India enforced a lockdown due to a lack
of food and money.

AUSTEN TECH | PAGE 3


"Most of these ragpickers are destitute,
earning about 50 to 80 rupees each day."
That sum is insufficient to provide a square
dinner for their family. As a result, they are
compelled to send their children to gather
rags, despite the fact that they do not want
them to be involved in unclean activities.
Poverty, on the other hand, has its own set
of norms. Despite being one of the dirtiest
jobs in the world, rag-picking becomes a
family business from one generation to the
next,
PROJECT REPORT
hese ragpickers are mostly low on food and
money. While studying the ragpickers’ lives,
it was revealed that they are the poorest and
mainly from Dalit and Muslim community.
The societal alienation for the community is
already pervasive in our society and their
patterns of the job have made them more
vulnerable in this crisis time.
Besides doing an honest occupation, people
term the ragpicking as one of the most
undignified jobs and this further leads to
ostracization and social discrimination.
Even, people term them as criminals and
thieves and look at them with disrespect.
Each ragpicker has a unique narrative to
tell, yet their hardships are all equally
severe. Despite the critical duty of
maintaining urban waste management,
India's ragpickers continue to battle for
survival in deplorable conditions, including
exposure to hazardous chemicals, low
earnings, and a lack of basic civic facilities.
"Rag picking by children is still considered
child labour and should be classified as
dangerous." They too mysteriously vanished
during the lockdown, and no one knows
what happened to them. This is due to the
fact that we do not count these groups that
continue to live in the shadows."