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Agence France-Presse

A sea of plastic spreads through the New Delhi slum of Taimur Nagar, a symbol of the grime and waste that makes the Indian capital one of the world’s most polluted cities.
The plastic bottles, bags, food wrappers and other detritus have gushed out of a drain that ends in the shanty, leaving stinking sewer water clogging the roads.
Stray dogs, goats and cows munch the plastic waste as toddlers run around trying to retrieve footballs and water bottles.
India is to be the focus of World Environment Day on Tuesday, but it is far from the minds of the long-suffering inhabitants of Taimur Nagar.
“You can see how bad the conditions are here. It’s completely choked with plastic,” said Bhola Ram, shaking his head.
Indian city Kanpur tops WHO list of most polluted in the world
Taimur Nagar is one of many slums in Delhi and countless other Indian cities struggling to cope with waste, particularly the plastic pollution that is the main theme of World Environment Day.
India is to organise beach cleanups, an exhibition of green technology and art installations – symbols of its growing economic clout. One engineer, Rajagopalan Vasudevan, has developed a process where plastic waste is shredded up and used in new roads.
But a sweeping look over Taimur Nagar underlines the challenges the country faces with its waste.
India generates around 5.6 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, according to government figures, with Delhi among the worst cities for plastic consumption.
The city banned plastic bags in 2009 and later expanded it to all plastic packaging and single-use disposable plastic.
But the ban is rarely enforced. Plastic bags are still the staple for carrying vegetables, fruit, meat and restaurant takeaways.
Taimur Nagar’s residents know little of the hazards of non-biodegradable plastic to the water supply and the animals sat around.
Used to the filth, residents say they are resigned to their fate.

“It’s like living in hell. You can see there is plastic garbage everywhere. We are poor and we have no choice but to live and die here,” said Shreepal Singh, a waste dealer.
Conditions were not always not so bad.
“When I came here 40 years ago the drain had clean water. The area was not so dirty. But as more and more people started living here, things have gone worse,” said Saroj Sharma, a mother of three.
In the rainy season, grimy water from sewers enters homes with families having to cope with the sludge and stench.
“My granddaughter keeps falling sick. All the children here frequently miss school because they are down with diarrhoea or malaria,” said housewife Birambati Devi as pigs feasted on a stinking garbage dump nearby.

Taimur Nagar is sandwiched between upper scale residential developments lined with swanky houses, the underbelly of Delhi that remains hidden from main roads.
Its insidious conditions tell a sorry tale of India’s lopsided economic growth as well as decades of negligence, despite a pledge by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clean up the country by the time his term ends in 2019.
India, Asia’s third-largest economy, had 14 of the world’s 15 worst cities for dirty air in a recent World Health Organisation survey.
Delhi improved its ranking to sixth from the most polluted city in 2014.
“I don’t think the city will ever get cleaned. The conditions will never improve,” said Sallu Chowdhary, who wore a black mask as he set out for college.
“No one is serious about this problem, not even the locals who have to suffer every day.”


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India

World Environment Day: India slum inhabitants live and die in a ‘plastic hell’

Taimur Nagar is one of many slums in Delhi and countless other Indian cities struggling to cope with waste, particularly the plastic pollution that is the main theme of World Environment Day

Members of National Green Corps clean up plastic garbage along the Musi river in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, June 3, 2018. India is the global host for the forthcoming environmental day celebrations on June 5, 2018, with a theme "Beat Plastic Pollution" and launched an awareness program on environmental protection. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

This photo taken on June 1, 2018 shows a man crossing a bridge over a sewage drain canal full of garbage in the slum of Taimur Nagar in New Delhi. A sea of plastic spreads through the New Delhi slum of Taimur Nagar, a symbol of the grime and waste that makes the Indian capital one of the world's most polluted cities. India is to be the focus of World Environment Day on June 5, but it is far from the minds of the long-suffering inhabitants of Taimur Nagar. / AFP PHOTO / Dominique FAGET / TO GO WITH India-health-environment-pollution by Abhaya Srivastava

This photo taken on May 30, 2018 shows a sewage drain canal full of garbage next to the Taimur Nagar slum area in New Delhi. A sea of plastic spreads through the New Delhi slum of Taimur Nagar, a symbol of the grime and waste that makes the Indian capital one of the world's most polluted cities. India is to be the focus of World Environment Day on June 5, but it is far from the minds of the long-suffering inhabitants of Taimur Nagar. / AFP PHOTO / Dominique FAGET / TO GO WITH India-health-environment-pollution by Abhaya Srivastava

Taimur Nagar is one of many slums in Delhi and countless other Indian cities struggling to cope with waste, particularly the plastic pollution that is the main theme of World Environment Day. Photo: AFP

Indian city Kanpur tops WHO list of most polluted in the world

Indian commuters drive along a street in the city of Kanpur of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Photo: AFP

Indian commuters drive along a busy road as pedestrians try to cross a zebra crossing in the city of Kanpur of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on May 2, 2018. Residents of Kanpur reacted with dismay on May 2 after the Indian city was named the world's most polluted in a World Health Organisation survey that urged the Asian powerhouse to clean up its air. The northern city, known for its leather and shoe industries, led 14 Indian cities that topped the WHO's 15 most polluted cities. / AFP PHOTO / -

epa06706669 (FILE) - A composite image of India's iconic Taj Mahal (top) taken on 02 May 2018 and (bottom) taken on 31 October 2011, in Agra, India. According to news reports, Indian top court asked the Indian government to seek foreign help to fix the changing color of the ivory-white marble mausoleum that had turned yellow and was now turning brown and green. EPA-EFE/STR

People take a selfie in front of the India Gate war memorial on a smoggy winter morning in New Delhi, India, December 26, 2017. REUTERS/Saumya Khandelwal

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Taimur Nagar is one of many slums in Delhi and countless other Indian cities struggling to cope with waste, particularly the plastic pollution that is the main theme of World Environment Day


India is to be the focus of World Environment Day on Tuesday, but it is far from the minds of the long-suffering inhabitants of a slum called Taimur Nagar.


Environment