Developing a Municipal Solid Waste Management Plan for Urban Area: A Case of Palghar City

Abstract

Urban areas are witnessing an unprecedented increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) generation due to rapid population growth, heightened consumption patterns, and accelerated urbanization. Absent robust planning, this escalation in waste volumes overburden existing collection and processing infrastructure, intensifies environmental pollution, and poses significant public health risks. A structured, systematic framework is therefore imperative for the design, implementation, and evaluation of Solid Waste Management (SWM) systems tailored to the needs of emerging urban contexts. India home to nearly eighteen percent of the world’s population and undergoing swift socio-economic transformation aces acute challenges in sustaining effective MSW services. Despite legislative advances such as the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules of 2000 and 2016, and the adoption of Service-Level Benchmarks under the Swachh Bharat Mission, many municipal systems remain antiquated, inefficient, and inadequately resourced. This study proposes to develop a comprehensive MSW management plan for Palghar City, Maharashtra. It pursues three core objectives: (1) to conduct a detailed assessment of the existing SWM infrastructure, operations, and governance in Palghar; (2) to identify and analyses critical gaps across the west management chain generation, segregation, collection, processing, and disposal against national benchmarks; and (3) to formulate evidence-based recommendations and strategic interventions to enhance system efficiency. From this research will emerge a comprehensive baseline inventory that maps Palghar’s waste flows, institutional structures, and existing resource capacities, a detailed gap-analysis contrasting current service performance against CPHEEO’s Service-Level Benchmarks; and a set of targeted, evidence-based recommendations ranging from infrastructure upgrades to community engagement to optimize source segregation, expand processing and recovery operations, and ensure scientifically sound disposal. Finally, the study will present an actionable implementation framework, complete with phased timelines, to guide Palghar Municipal Council in improving solid-waste management system through 2035.