By Garima Poonia
In 2018, less than 200 tons of waste went from Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI), annually to mainland India for processing (only from Port Blair). In 2023, more than 3000 tonne has gone out already. This has been made possible in a large way by the Extended Producer’s Responsibility Law or EPR, part of India’s Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules (2016), that puts obligations on PIBOs (producers, importer, brands-owners) to ensure that the waste generated by them is processed as per the law.
I first visited the Andamans as a tourist in 2017. I wanted to dive into the world of coral reefs and make some fish friends!
To most mainland Indians, the Andamans came into prominence only after the Tsunami of 2004. The large-scale loss to human life and property were well known, but what of the coral reefs? The earthquake and the Tsunami led to the northern side of Andamans to rise by approximately about 1.2-1.8 meters and the southern group of Nicobar went down by about more than a meter. As if sheer force wasn’t enough, global heating events led to large scale bleaching and further damage.
Before coming to the Andamans I had in my mind two pictures, the colourful corals and spellbinding ocean of BBC’s Blue Planet and the last, colourful, and silent screams of dying corals showcased in the documentary Chasing Coral.
Broken Skeletons
My first dives at 18 meters depth were as breathtaking as heartbreaking. Water like glass and such beauty, but several gardens of broken, bleached corals- skeletons. It hurt even more when I dove down to 30 meters, because once upon a time, that beauty which can make one fall on their knees in gratitude, existed even in the shallowest parts of Andamans.
As a waste management professional and as somebody who had several questions about the environment, it hurt me to see the state of waste management at Havelock and Neil. How could a place so beautiful and magical, be witness to such disregard and disrespect. I wondered if a small project could be initiated here.
The Kachrewaale Project
In 2018, I came back to the Andamans, on a one-way ticket! After talking to people and doing some ground research about waste, I moved to Neil Island, as a hotel manager! This was because I realised that back then nobody wanted to fund such a project and I would have to begin single-handedly. This was the birth of The Kachrewaale Project (TKP) which slowly and steadily forged several relationships. In due course, a range of stakeholders were involved – from the Defence Wives Welfare Association (DWWA), the District Legal Service Association (DLSA), the Directorate of Shipping Services (DSS) to the local panchayat, divers, and hotels. Each participant bringing their bit to the new solutions.
In a span of less than six months, we executed a successful pilot wherein source segregated was implemented and recyclables were sent all the way to mainland India for processing, a first in the history of rural Andamans. It would not have been possible without this myriad of stakeholders.
Consultancy with the govt
In 2019, I was awarded by the Lt Gov of Andamans for my work on waste management at Neil, and I was onboarded as a SWM consultant for the union territory. In two years thereafter, I had the privilege of working with multiple forward looking and very dedicated bureaucrats without whom the model of Neil island could not have been scaled up. Door-to-door collection system of waste was set up in rural Andamans, not just for hotels but also households. This was in tandem with setting up of infrastructure such as Solid Waste Management Clusters, more than 20 of which have been set up in rural Andamans. These systems allowed for waste to be handled within Andamans, but for transportation of waste for processing in the mainland, the national EPR policy came into play after being tailored.
EPR puts obligations on PIBOs (producers, importer, brands) to ensure that the waste generated by them is processed as per the law. This has translated to PIBOs filling the monetary gap of transporting waste from Andamans to processing/ recycling facilities in the mainland. The Andamans are a group of more than 500 islands with 35 inhabited ones. Inter-island transport of waste is already a challenge, and then transportation of waste to mainland is a huge logistical and financial challenge. In 2018, less than 200 tons of waste would go from Andamans to the mainland for processing. In 2023, more than 3000 tonne has gone out. The system still needs several interventions to further reduce burning and dumping of waste. However, so much can happen when the local administration takes things in their hands!
Today, sadly, EPR has become a state neutral policy: brands and producers have national targets instead of state targets, thus leading to cherry picking of ‘easy’ and ‘cheaper’ places to execute EPR instead of remote places like Andamans where recovery cost per kg is several times higher.
Ocean Plastics Program
As per a study published in 2019, Great Nicobar Islands get waste from 8 countries. Plastic waste from these countries enters their rivers and coastlines due to improper waste management, and travels thousands of kilometres to reach the shores of Andamans. Sometimes, these leakages also come from waste shipped by western countries to South East Asia under the garb of recycling. Much of it is not recyclable. We had been noticing a lot of foreign waste on our beach clean-ups, and a desire to understand this better led to our Ocean Plastics Program in 2022.
In this pioneering program, 1.6 tons of ocean plastics were recovered and intricately studied before being diverted to the mainland for processing. We found 20 countries on the labels, with majority of waste coming from South East Asia and South Asia. We also found that only about 30% of the waste was easily recyclable (PET and hard plastics), and more than 30% was utterly non-recyclable (thermocol and footwear). The rest (fishing gear, ghost nets, ropes, highly degraded plastic of various types) falls into a grey area that require a score of interventions and infrastructure. For the first time we know what to expect in marine litter in the Andamans and the interventions required to increase recovery and processing. This waste was collected from various places including the Rani Jhansi Marine National Park (one of the six in the country). Just the logistical cost of recovery of marine litter from such places is extremely high, (permits, hiring of boats, engaging people, transportation). But, the effort, creativity, will and intention to develop and execute a program like this, raise funds, create networks and linkages, forge relationships with local people, encourage people to volunteer for clean ups which is basically back breaking work under scorching sun for nothing in return except soul satisfaction; none of this can be quantified.
Our Ocean Plastics Program was conducted in collaboration with the Andaman Forest Department, DiveIndia, Go2Andaman, and Green Communities Foundation. We were also supported by the local administration under the guidance of the current Chief Secretary Mr. Keshav Chandra, and the PCCF (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests) Mr. T.S. Ashok Kumar. This translated into support from departments such as the Andaman Forest Department, the DSS, and Department of Rural Development. The local community, especially children, remain our strongest allies. The program was executed at less than 60 per cent of the actual cost only because of kindness, volunteers and people who got paid much less than they should have, or sometime nothing! For instance, Umeed Mistry supported us through his underwater photography skills, and Dancing Dugong, Neil Island, provided logistical support for our activities with children.
Collaboration with MakeMyTrip Foundation (MMTF) and Andaman govt
In 2023, the MMTF and Kachrewaale Foundation decided to work together with the aim of preserving the beauty of these pristine islands. As part of this program, we are now engaging with several stakeholders such as hoteliers, auto and taxi drivers, women, fishermen, shopkeepers, schools, local panchayat and tourists. The idea is to get each stakeholder to help in reducing waste, streamline existing systems, understand the impact of plastic packaged food especially on children, and increase recovery of the tough plastics, i.e ocean plastics. MMTF put up water ATMs on Neil in 2019 to reduce the use of single use water bottles. This allows tourists to fill up their water bottles instead of constantly buying a new bottle and thus burdening the islands with plastic waste. Together, early this year we are launching a special campaign to further reduce their use. Our most exciting work is with local children, ranging from sports to outdoor activities such as snorkelling, beach clean ups, jungle and intertidal walks. We protect what we love, and wonder is a beautiful way to get to love.
This program is being run in further collaboration with the Andaman Forest Department, Rural Development and with support of departments such as Dept of Education, Science & Technology.
The Experience of Underwater Clean ups
I have often been asked, what is the point of underwater clean ups, especially when dives are so expensive (a single recreational dive is usually about Rs 3000-6000 depending on location).
We are taught that for every inch, rainforests hold the highest diversity of life. But it is the corals that hold more diversity. Coral reefs, take up less than 1 per cent of the entire ocean floor, but sustain at least 25 per cent of all fish in the oceans, with other fish dependent on them indirectly. In turn, two thirds of the world depends on seafood for food; a collapse in coral reef systems will lead to collapse in fisheries (this has already started happening), and this would have very serious consequences for food security. Currently, coral reefs are facing immense pressure due to global warming and increasing pollution of the ocean with more than just plastic. A study found that the likelihood of corals falling sick increases by 21 times if they come in contact with plastic. So, how do we leave such plastics in coral reefs? Of course, we need to stop producing so much plastic and dumping the same, but recovery remains critical. Every bit of plastic removed from the ocean means it will not entangle a turtle or will not break down and be ingested by planktons.
Challenges Galore
Imagine being several meters underwater and the water pushing and pulling at you. Imagine thin fishing lines stuck intricately in delicate corals. You must be as gentle as possible to remove these lines, or pieces of plastic stuck in and around coral reefs. So far, our most challenging recovery was a fishing net spread over a length of about 40 meters which took 3 dives, and more than 7 hours of dive time to recover. We found several dead hermit crabs in the line which had most likely starved to death after being entangled in the net and buried in the sand. Most of the waste we find underwater is fishing lines, ropes and nets. Closer to the shore we are more likely to find cement bags, tyres, and discarded items such as like plastic mats, paint brushes, cans, bottles etc. Sometimes, we have seen several pieces of thin, flimsy plastic packaging floating by us, too fast to catch. Such plastics disintegrate into microplastics the soonest due to their fragile nature.
Siddharth Saini, owner DiveIndia, was one of the first people to offer support to us while the program was still in its inception phase. DiveIndia’s support has been crucial to the development of this one-of-a-kind underwater cleanup program in the country where both recovery and research are main focus areas.
Underwater clean ups are both beautiful and risky. The ocean’s secrets, if not understood well can lead to nasty stings and bites by a myriad of creatures. Thrice I have seen scorpion fish (highly venomous) under fishing nets we were trying to remove. Having said that, the onus of safety is on us who dive, since most animals, on ocean or land do not attack until provoked. It is up to us to understand and communicate with the ocean to not just recover waste, but also to appreciate her beauty, fragility, and resilience and for some of us, to also talk to her. A great example of this is Darius Quadros, a dive instructor from DiveIndia who according to me was most definitely a dugong in his past life, considering how they keep flocking to him, more than anyone else I know of! It was with him, that I saw a Dugong for the first time, and was left speechless. How do you translate the experience of seeing a dugong swim and play with you, mere inches away? These are reminders, that our work isn’t just to preserve the world for us humans, but to try and understand and preserve her for everybody else we share her with.
(Garima Poonia is the founder of the Kachrewaale Foundation, the first such organisation working towards finding solutions for waste management in the Andamans. She is also a Young India Fellow, from Ashoka University batch of 2015)
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