From the days of primitive society, humans and animals have used the resources of the earth to support life and to dispose wastes. In those days, the disposal of human and other wastes did not pose significant problems as the population was very small and the area of land available for the assimilation of such wastes was large. However, today, serious consideration is being given everywhere to this burgeoning problem of solid wastes. Rapid population growth and uncontrolled industrial development are seriously degrading the urban and semi-urban environment in many of the world's developing countries, placing enormous strain on natural resources and undermining efficient and sustainable development.

The purpose of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) exercise is to help improve poor practices of SWM that prevail in many low income countries where this subject has received scant attention compared to other aspects of infrastructure such as water supply and transport. It is a multi-disciplinary field embracing waste collection, transfer, haulage and disposal and its impact is wide. It is therefore important to take a broad view and not to consider disposal options within the narrow confines of a particular technology. This work is formulated from the available literature and gives particular emphasis to the principle of building on existing capacity of waste managing authorities.

An effort was made to study and suggest improved SWM practice for an area of about 180 hectares (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) whose waste generation resembles a typical urban community, equivalent to a ward under city corporation's jurisdiction. The proposed strategies can be replicated in large communities and townships. Optimal SWM strategies for many kinds of wastes are proposed effectively with the help of field investigations and spatial analysis tools (Geographic Information System, GIS), constituting a framework for efficient planning for waste management. Suggestions involving source segregation, designing collection systems, recycling and reuse (usage of organic wastes for production of biogas and fertilizer), optimal routing of collection vehicles, appropriate design of community bins, effective stakeholder participation, hazardous waste management, safe disposal options, etc have been proposed.

Management of solid waste may be defined as that discipline associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes in a manner that is in accord with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics, and other environmental considerations. In its scope, solid waste management includes all administrative, financial, legal, planning, and engineering functions involved in the whole spectrum of solutions to problems of solid wastes thrust upon the community by its inhabitants (Tchobanaglous, G. et al, 1997)

To implement proper waste management, various aspects have to be considered such as

• source reduction
• onsite storage
• collection and transfer
• processing techniques
• disposal

The day to day management of solid wastes is a complex and expensive activity. Disposal functions have to be sought for the future, the overall objective being to minimize the adverse environmental effects caused by the indiscriminate disposal of solid wastes. This is of paramount importance to health, environmental protection, natural resources management and sustainable development. Developed countries have adopted sophisticated management practices. Imparting the same in low-income countries is not economically, and technically viable and socially acceptable. However, the management strategies that are to be adopted for low-income countries should ensure maximum safety to the environment.

Management objectives
Management strategies should be in such a way as to perform the following functions

Protection of environmental health Promotion of the quality of environment Supporting the efficiency and productivity of the economy Generation of employment and income

Potential hazards of solid wastes are numerous to the living community when it is improperly managed. Solid wastes have the potential to pollute all the vital components of living environment (i.e., air, land and water). Some of the hazards caused by solid wastes are listed below, (Mansoor Ali et al, 1999)

	Environmental pollution from waste leachates and gas evolving from dumped solid waste.
	Air pollution from smoke by burning of waste And Health hazards to the people through inhalation of dust and smoke.
	Health hazards to waste workers and pickers through direct contact with waste.
	Chance of spreading of communicable diseases.
	Unaesthetic appearance
	Poor living environment

Poor management of Solid waste is a bane of urban society. The problem is severe in urban areas because, people from rural area are migrating at an alarming rate for want of employment and better quality of life. Absence of proper municipal amenities adds to the existing menace. Whenever there are sudden surges of population, municipal authorities are forced to take ad-hoc measures, which compound the problem further. The situation should be turned over for good and it needs an organized and well-thought out approach. In short, the major causes of this dilemma are,

Burgeoning population Industrialization and Urbanisation Uncontrolled Economic growth Unplanned development activities Lack of integrated and holistic approach Ignoring importance of socio-economic and ecological aspects

Despite a large body of work on high technology options for waste disposal, there is very little material appropriate for low-income countries. It is observed that inappropriate, expensive and unmanageable disposal systems are being implemented in many places. Numerous technologies / options are available in SWM, among developed countries. Replicating the same in low-income countries is inappropriate / incompatible. The success of waste disposal practices depends largely on overcoming the following constraints,

MUNICIPAL CAPACITY
The scale of task is enormous and regulatory authorities are able to collect only 60-70% of total waste generated (UNCHS 1994), so treatment and disposal inevitably receives less attention. Attempts are being made in a few instances to overcome this lack of capacity by privatizing this operation.

POLITICAL COMMITMENTS
Solid waste management is much more than a technical issues; it has implications for local taxation, employment, and regulation of public and managing authorities. Any change needs political support to be effective. However, it is rarely a priority for political concerns unless there is strong and active public interest. This is viewed as a cost to the "public" without apparent returns.

FINANCE, COST RECOVERY AND RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS
Deployment of a proper management system represents a major investment and it may be difficult to give it priority over other resource demands. Most of the waste management authorities are severely constrained by the lack of resource to finance their services. Since the collection and transport itself usually dominate SWM costs in developing countries, safe disposal invariably receives less attention where as in all other developed countries concentrate on all aspects of management.

TECHNICAL GUIDELINES
Standards of planning and implementation in high-income countries may not be appropriate in low-income countries due to difference in climate, resource, institutions, attitude priorities, etc. However, relatively little appropriate guidance is available for low-income countries. Arising from this uncertainty, officials find themselves ill equipped to plan management strategies, which are both achievable and avoid unacceptable environmental hazards.

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Though managing wastes effectively is the responsibility of the municipality, there is no clearly stated vision of management (i.e. sufficient priority is not given to SWM). Existing vision is accompanied by a typical apathy to solid waste is an "out of sight is out of mind" attitude by the municipalities and public because of strict rule and regulations are not implemented just like as in prevention of emission of water and air pollutants. Waste management necessities the co-ordination of all authorities concerned and may involve departments that are accustomed to acting independently but the lack of accountability in all levels of management. Among the authorities, the roles and responsibilities of different departments need to be clearly defined and accepted by all concerned. Some smaller towns may not have staff with specific responsibility for providing a solid waste management service.

INADEQUATE LEGAL PROVISIONS
In most countries, the laws and regulations on solid waste management are outmoded and fragmented and hence are inadequate to deal effectively with the modern complications of managing wastes in large cities. Most of the laws deal with the general tidiness of the city streets, waste collection and their disposal at places away from settlements. Even these inadequate laws are not fully enforced. This aggravates the situation further.

Solid waste management is a civic problem and it has to evolve optimally and continuously to serve the future generation. Solid wastes if unchecked can not only be a health hazard but will impart multidimensional threats, which include serious detrimental, environmental, social, and economic impacts. Solid waste management in developing countries is a complex issue as the types of wastes generated vary widely because of the varying localities with diverse populations. The boundaries of the analysis of the "waste problem" are difficult to define. A complete and environmentally sound SWM requires effective contribution from all those who are involved in this problem. Everyone is part of the solid waste generation problem and everyone shall also be part of the solution of proper management i.e., solution depends upon collective human action and efforts.

The trend of unsustainable patterns of production and consumption is increasing the quantity of the waste and the amount will increase four to fivefold by the year 2025 (Earth Summit-1992). As many as 5.2 million people, including 4 million children under five years of age, die each year from waste related diseases. The health impacts are particularly severe for urban poor. At present over 2 billion people will be without access to basic sanitation, and an estimated half of the urban population in developing countries is without adequate solid waste disposal services. Solid waste management operations currently absorb 30 to 50 percent of the municipal operating budgets in developing countries (Earth Summit-1992). Some of them have experienced a six-fold increase in solid waste disposal costs over the last decade. The costs are likely to double or treble by early next century. For these reasons, solid waste recycling and reuse has attracted considerable attention worldwide and numerous action plans to promote sustainable human settlement development focussing on environmentally sound management of solid waste have been initiated. Such actions call for an integrated approach to solid waste management.