{"id":123750,"date":"2026-09-10T11:29:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T05:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=123750"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:29:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T05:59:03","slug":"open-waste-burning-wri-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/open-waste-burning-wri-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Waste Burning in Indian Cities Triples During Winter &#8211; WRI Study"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Open Waste Burning Latest News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A working paper by <\/span><b>World Resources Institute<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (WRI) India has found that open waste burning across Indian cities rises sharply in winter, with incidence, quantity burned and associated emissions as much as three times higher than in summer.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>About Open Waste Burning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open waste burning refers to the uncontrolled burning of municipal solid waste in the open, on streets, near dumpsites, in vacant plots or at collection points, rather than through regulated disposal or treatment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It typically occurs where waste collection is irregular or absent, leaving residents and informal workers to dispose of accumulated garbage by setting it alight.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The practice releases a mix of pollutants, including <\/span><b>particulate matter<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (PM2.5 and PM10), <\/span><b>carbon monoxide<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>dioxins and furans<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, depending on the composition of the waste. Plastics, rubber and treated materials produce particularly toxic emissions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open burning of solid waste is prohibited under the <\/span><b>Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which place responsibility on urban local bodies for door-to-door collection, segregation and scientific disposal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study is based on field surveys conducted between 2019 and 2026 across 11 polluted Indian cities, whose names have not been disclosed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>The Winter Spike<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The central finding is a sharp seasonal increase. Average incidence, quantity of waste burned, and associated emissions are up to three times higher in winter than in summer.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This timing compounds the problem. The findings come as cities approach the post-monsoon period, when falling temperatures and stagnant atmospheric conditions make it harder for pollutants to disperse.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emissions released during this period remain concentrated closer to the ground and linger longer.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Variation Across City Tiers<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study categorised cities by size and found differing patterns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tier 2 cities, those with populations between 500,000 and five million, recorded the highest quantities of waste burned among the cities examined.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tier 3 cities, however, recorded the highest winter incidence of burning:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tier 3 cities: 49.6 incidents per square kilometre per day<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tier 2 cities: 46 incidents per square kilometre per day<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tier 1 cities: 39.4 incidents per square kilometre per day<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pattern suggests that smaller cities, which typically have weaker municipal waste infrastructure, see burning occur more frequently, while larger Tier 2 cities generate greater volumes of burned waste overall.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The Exposure Problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open waste burning was not the dominant source of citywide particulate pollution. It contributed less than 1% of total citywide PM2.5 and PM10 emissions in the cities assessed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet the study cautions against dismissing it on that basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because burning happens closer to homes, streets and waste dumps, it can significantly increase short-term exposure to toxic smoke for those living nearby.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This distinction between aggregate emissions and localised exposure is significant. A source may contribute little to a city&#8217;s overall pollution average while still posing serious health risks to the specific populations living around it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The Equity Dimension<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study found that the burden was strongly associated with socio-economic conditions. Poorer areas recorded substantially more burning than higher-income areas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The highest incidence recorded in the entire study, nearly 84 incidents per square kilometre per day, was in the poorer areas of Tier 2 cities during winter. This is well above the Tier 2 city average of 46 incidents.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers attribute this pattern to disparities in waste collection and other municipal services. Where formal collection is irregular or does not reach at all, residents have few alternatives to burning accumulated waste.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The result is a double disadvantage. Lower-income neighbourhoods receive poorer municipal services, and then absorb the health consequences of the disposal methods that gap forces upon them.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why This Matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><b>Public Health<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open burning produces pollutants at breathing height in residential areas, unlike emissions from tall industrial stacks that disperse more widely.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exposure risks include respiratory illness, cardiovascular stress and, in the case of plastic combustion, exposure to carcinogenic compounds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vulnerable groups, children, the elderly, informal waste workers and street vendors, face the greatest exposure.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Municipal Governance<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The findings point to a service delivery failure rather than merely a behavioural problem.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Burning is largely a consequence of waste not being collected, which places the issue squarely within the responsibility of urban local bodies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Winter Air Quality Management<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most winter air quality action plans in India focus on vehicular emissions, industrial sources, construction dust and crop residue burning.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open waste burning receives comparatively less attention, partly because its citywide contribution appears small.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study suggests this framing may miss the localised harm it causes during precisely the season when dispersion is weakest.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Smaller Cities<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Much of India&#8217;s air quality monitoring and policy attention is concentrated on large metros.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The higher burning incidence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities indicates that pollution management capacity needs to extend well beyond the major urban centres.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening waste collection coverage, particularly in underserved and low-income neighbourhoods, addresses the root cause rather than the symptom.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enforcing segregation at source reduces the volume of mixed waste that is most likely to be burned and most toxic when it is.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Expanding processing and disposal capacity so that collected waste has somewhere to go, preventing accumulation at transfer points.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Targeted monitoring in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where incidence is highest, but monitoring infrastructure is thinnest.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Integrating waste burning into winter action plans, recognising localised exposure as a distinct concern from citywide emission averages.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400; text-align: justify;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supporting informal waste workers, who often handle collection in underserved areas and are among the most exposed to burning emissions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/pollution-from-winter-waste-burning-in-cities-three-times-higher-than-summer-study-finds\/article71448312.ece#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Open waste burning in Indian cities rises up to three times in winter, with poorer neighbourhoods bearing the heaviest burden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":123756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,10146,22,59],"class_list":["post-123750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-mains-articles","tag-open-waste-burning","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123750"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":123766,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123750\/revisions\/123766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}