Development of Decision Support System for Municipal Solid Waste Management in India: A Review

The complexity of issues involved in municipal solid waste management necessitates development and application of new tools capable of processing data inputs of varying formats, numerical models and expert opinions in multi objective decision making scenario. Decision Support Systems (DSS) are among the most promising approaches to confront such situations. After adoption of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 in India, the necessity of development of an environmental decision support system (EDSS) has further increased. Most DSS for solid waste management (SWM) constructed in the past deal with one or a few components of the whole process. This segmented approach does not provide a complete view of the interactions and effects of all functional elements in the whole complex system. In constructing the DSS, various elements must be integrated and optimized as per the required regulative, technical and social framework to produce a viable model that has practical applications. The DSS models should ideally be integrated with geographical information system (GIS) to optimize collection, transportation, processing and disposal processes. This paper attempts to present an overview of DSS in the area of solid waste management with specific reference to their development and applications in India. There appears a definite need for development of a comprehensive and user friendly EDSS for solid waste management in Indian regulative and social set up. A conceptual frame work for one such proposed decision support system, named ‘EDSSMSWI’ has been discussed.