Urban Solid Waste Management in Bengaluru and Indore: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has placed Indian cities under mounting pressure to manage solid waste sustainably. Bengaluru, despite its economic and technological importance, faces challenges relating to governance discontinuity, fragmented contracting, weak source segregation and inadequate processing capacity. Indore, by contrast, has developed a strong municipal solid waste management system based on sustained leadership, door-to-door segregated collection, decentralized processing, and citizen participation. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the solid waste management systems in Bengaluru and Indore using secondary information from municipal reports, government survey findings, and published literature. It examines the meaning and stages of solid waste management, the initiatives and challenges in both cities, and the differences in administration, infrastructure, and public participation. The paper finds that Indore's performance is associated with administrative continuity, effective monitoring, segregation at source and regular public engagement. Bengaluru's key challenges include processing capacity substantially below daily waste generation, fragmented service delivery, and continued dependence on landfill and informal disposal. The paper recommends strengthening ward-level accountability, expanding processing infrastructure, ensuring segregation at source, integrating waste-pickers and sustaining community awareness to support environmentally sustainable urban waste management.