Pune: A major crisis in the city’s waste management system has left garbage piling up across several wards, with chronic delays in the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) secondary waste transport network severely affecting cleanliness and the working conditions of waste pickers.
SWaCH, a cooperative of nearly 4,000 waste pickers authorised by PMC for door-to-door collection, has reported alarming inefficiencies in the municipal waste transfer system. After collecting and segregating waste, waste pickers deposit non-recyclable refuse at designated transfer sites, or “feeder points,” where PMC or its contractors’ vehicles are supposed to pick up the waste for transporting to processing plants. However, this system is breaking down due to long delays and missed pickups.
“My work starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 10, but the wet waste vehicle arrives only around 3 or 4 p.m. Until then, we have to wait at the feeder, no food, no rest, and no toilets. We lose the whole day,” said Sindhu Hanwate, a waste picker working in Shivajinagar.
Another worker, Sarika Ukirde, shared that she was forced to return to Rajaram Bridge at 7:30 p.m., seven hours after her shift had ended, to clear the waste transfer point. “We don’t have a choice but to come. They’ll just blame us for the mess otherwise,” she said.
Data from SWaCH paints a grim picture: over the last three months, 32% of Pune’s 1,076 feeder points faced delayed vehicle arrivals, while 6% did not receive any collection at all. The data also reveals that more than 400 feeder points across the city have uncollected waste piling up on streets due to poor vehicle management, overburdened transfer stations, and inadequate processing capacity.
The worst-affected areas include:
• Kothrud–Bavdhan: Vehicles are late 47% of days, and absent 3%.
• Warje–Karvenagar: Late 41%, absent 11%.
• Kondhwa–Yeolewadi: Late 42%, absent 5%.
• Aundh–Baner: Late 38%, absent 12%.
• Nagar Road–Vadgaon Sheri: No collection on 11% of days.
“The transfer stations get too much waste, so the vehicles get stuck in long lines. Sometimes there are no BRCs available, so they just wait for hours. When we call, the drivers say, ‘Where should we go? Where will we empty the waste?” said Vidya Naiknavre, a waste picker from Sahakarnagar.
Frequent breakdowns at processing plants in Sinhagad and Hadapsar have worsened the problem, leading to a ripple effect of delayed pickups and overflowing bins. “If the waste isn’t collected, then I cannot work the next day. The Mukaddam tells me to wait, but then I get late, and everything is delayed again,” said Seema Ranpise from Lohagaon.
Adding to the problem, feeder vehicles are often diverted to collect street-sweeping waste or remove dumped garbage, leaving SWaCH collection points unattended. In some areas, municipal vehicles are allegedly being used for unauthorised private waste collection from housing societies. “PMC vehicles carry out direct private collection in around 20% of the city,” said SWaCH CEO Lubna Anantakrishnan. “This undermines the user-fee model that the PMC itself has approved and misuses city resources for private benefit.”
Despite daily reports sent to senior PMC officials, including the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner (Solid Waste Management), little action has been taken. In September, SWaCH submitted a list of the 30 worst-performing feeder points at PMC’s request, but no joint review or corrective action followed.
“The wards that function well either have dedicated ramps or sufficient vehicles,” said Sarthak Tapasvi, COO of SWaCH. “The key problems, vehicle capacity, transfer station capacity, and processing plant capacity must be addressed. Dedicated fleets and better coordination between PMC, contractors, and SWaCH are crucial.”
In Viman Nagar, PMC has launched a pilot project to replace SWaCH waste pickers with mechanised collection vehicles. However, experts warn that this could worsen the problem. “Without increasing waste-handling capacity, the city cannot implement vehicle-based collection effectively,” said Anantakrishnan.
“The delays that hurt waste pickers today will simply shift to citizens tomorrow. Ironically, system failures are noticed only when citizens, not waste pickers, are made to wait," said Anantakrishnan.
