Environmental problems associated with removal of solid waste (A study of the Kandy Urban Council area)

Abstract

Any solid substance which is removed by human and animal activities is introduced as solid waste. The environmental pollution occurs throughout the world due to the rapid growth of population and urbanization. This has become a critical problem today. Many reasons contribute to this situation. Lack of proper collection and removal practices has led to the formation of many environmental problems. Each and every city has faced environmental problems because of this irregularity in removal of waste. Kandy, a world heritage city is undergoing rapid urbanization. The density of population in Kandy city is about 3000 per 1 skm. Kandy city producers 0.62 kgs solid waste per day per person. Accordingly, the problem of solid waste is critical within the Kandy city. The purpose of this research is to study the environmental problems, which is found in the Kandy city due to irregular removal of solid waste. The primary objective of this research is to identify the destruction caused by such actions and investigating the reasons behind. In addition to that, this study also investigates the management process of the removal of solid waste. For this research, the Kandy city was used for the field survey. According to the random sampling method, relevant data were collected from shops and houses of Kandy city using a questionaire. Discussions were held with the related institutions and elders of the area in order to obtain the relevant information. Due to this situation many problems have arisen. They are the pollution of atmosphere, surface water, underground water, and soil. Further destruction of bio diversity and natural beauty is noted. It has created social and economic problems in the population. These factors indicate that plans designed by the Kandy Urban Council are not properly implemented in the collection of solid waste. The above improper management has badly affected human and environmental existence and it is therefore necessary to have an effective management of solid waste. For this purpose, there should be a favorable methodology. In this study, it has been identified 3 suitable sanitary land fill sites in KMC which are Deltota, Yatinuwara, and Harispattuwa in Kandy District.