(a) Examine the environmental challenges caused by the solid waste in metropolitan regions of India and discuss the efforts to…

(a) Solid waste in metropolitan regions: challenges and efforts

Indian cities produce about 1.5 lakh tonnes of municipal waste a day, and the metros, with dense populations and high consumption, produce a large share. Roughly half is biodegradable and about a tenth is plastic, mixed with paper, metal, glass, e-waste and construction debris.

(i) Challenges. Mixed waste is collected unsegregated and dumped in open sites. Leachate contaminates groundwater and nearby rivers, and methane from decomposition adds to greenhouse gases. Landfill fires, as at Ghazipur and Bhalswa in Delhi, release toxic smoke, and mountains of waste are visible at Deonar in Mumbai. Open burning and plastic choke drains, worsen urban flooding and harm the health of ragpickers. Land for new landfills is scarce, and many sites are already over capacity.

(ii) Legal and institutional efforts. The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 have been replaced by the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, in force from 1 April 2026. They require segregation at source into four streams (wet, dry, sanitary and special-care waste), on-site processing by bulk generators, extended producer responsibility, polluter-pays compensation, landfills only for non-recyclable residue, biomining of legacy dumpsites, and a central online tracking portal. The Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 aims at garbage-free cities, and the Plastic Waste Management and Construction and Demolition Waste Rules deal with special streams.

(iii) Good practice. Indore's door-to-door collection with strict segregation and its bio-CNG plant has kept it India's cleanest city, and Surat has biomined old sites. Waste-to-energy plants, composting and decentralised plants, and the involvement of informal waste pickers, as in Pune's SWaCH cooperative, add to this.

Sustained success depends on enforcement by city governments, finance and public behaviour.

(b) Millets: nutri-cereals and climate-resilient crops

Nutri-cereals. Millets such as jowar, bajra, ragi, foxtail and kodo are rich in fibre, iron, calcium, zinc and B vitamins, and ragi has far more calcium than rice or wheat. They have a low glycaemic index and no gluten, which helps diabetics and coeliacs, and they address anaemia and malnutrition. The Government classed them as nutri-cereals in 2018 and named them "Shree Anna" in 2023.

Climate resilience. They are mostly C4 crops with deep roots, high water-use efficiency and tolerance of heat and poor soils, need little irrigation and fertiliser, mature in 60 to 90 days, and withstand drought better than rice and wheat. They are therefore suitable for rainfed, semi-arid lands.

Constraints. Yields are low, procurement and MSP operations are limited compared with rice and wheat, there are few milling and processing facilities, and demand and shelf life of flour are limited. The shift of consumer taste toward rice and wheat, a PDS centred on these cereals, and lack of improved seeds for small farmers add to this.

Opportunities. The United Nations declared 2023 the International Year of Millets on India's proposal. The nutri-cereals component of the National Food Security Mission, state missions (Odisha Millets Mission, Karnataka), inclusion in PDS, mid-day meals and ICDS, and the Indian Institute of Millets Research support production, and value-added products and exports widen markets. Millets fit sustainable agriculture, nutrition security and small-farmer income.

(c) Geostrategic significance of Indian islands

India has about 1,300 islands, mainly the Andaman and Nicobar group in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea.

(i) Sea lanes. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands overlook the Malacca Strait approaches, through which a large part of the world's trade and most of China's oil passes, by way of the Six Degree and Ten Degree Channels. Lakshadweep overlooks the Eight and Nine Degree Channels on the busy east-west route between the Gulf and Southeast Asia.

(ii) Military. The Andaman and Nicobar Command, India's first tri-service theatre command, at Port Blair, and airbases at Campbell Bay and Car Nicobar extend reach, surveillance and power projection across the Indian Ocean, and help counter the Chinese naval presence.

(iii) Economic. They add a large share of India's exclusive economic zone, about 2 million sq km, with fisheries, seabed minerals and hydrocarbons, and offer sites for ports, such as Great Nicobar's proposed transshipment port, and for tourism.

(iv) Strategic partnerships and disaster relief. They support cooperation with friendly navies, anti-piracy and humanitarian operations.

Their development needs to be balanced with ecology and the rights of indigenous peoples such as the Nicobarese and Shompen.