Smart City without waste policy ? Imphal’s vision rings hollow

Chingthang Nambam
The Manipur Budget 2026–2027 has exposed a troubling contradiction at the heart of Imphal’s Smart City ambition. There is a near total absence of any serious policy or budgetary commitment towards solid waste management.
At a time when cities across the world are investing heavily in sustainable waste systems, this omission is not just surprising. It is alarming. A vision of a zero garbage city without financial backing or a structured roadmap is not planning. It is denial.
Such neglect runs directly against the commitments of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 12, which calls for a substantial reduction in waste generation by 2030. It also undermines India’s aspiration of Viksit Bharat 2047, which envisions a green economy and a clean urban environment.
This is not an issue that authorities can claim ignorance of. The National Green Tribunal had already directed the State to submit an updated status report on waste management, following which the then Chief Secretary of Manipur, PK Singh, submitted a report on 19 July 2025. At the same time, Uripok Apunba Lup approached the High Court of Manipur through a Public Interest Litigation see- king urgent intervention for a cleaner Imphal, and the High Court has since been closely monitoring compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
Yet despite such judicial scrutiny and administrative reporting, the ground reality remains unchanged. In localities such as Uripok, community organisations and Meira Paibi groups have already demonstrated responsible citizenship by conducting campaigns on waste segregation at source, organising awareness meetings, and undertaking voluntary cleanliness drives on a regular basis, often without any Government support. However, these sustained community efforts continue to be undermined by the failure of basic municipal services.
Garbage collection, outsourced by the Imphal Municipal Corporation, remains grossly inadequate. In several areas, only a single vehicle operates, collecting waste once a week. Requests to increase the frequency, even minimally to twice a week, have gone unheeded. The message is clear. Citizens may act, but the system does not respond.
The problem is not merely administrative inefficiency. It is structural neglect. Modern waste management is resource inten- sive and technologically driven. It demands investment, planning and execu- tion. The existing facility at Lamdeng lacks the capacity to handle the growing volume of waste, while the absence of proper landfill sites reflects a deeper failure of urban planning.
If Imphal is to genuinely aspire to be a Smart City, waste management cannot remain an afterthought. It must be treated as core urban infrastructure.
Public participation must also be formalised. Every government office, school, hospital and institution should adopt a weekly cleanliness schedule as a matter of civic discipline. However, citizen participation cannot substitute State responsibility.
Equally urgent is the need for strong legislative intervention. The unchecked proliferation of single use plastics, non recyclable bottles and heavily packaged goods continues to choke the city. Without strict regulation, including restrictions or bans on such materials, waste generation will only escalate beyond control.
Imphal today stands at a crossroads. Its citizens are willing. Its institutions are active. Its obligations, both National and global, are clearly defined.
What is missing is political will.
Without immediate course correction, the promise of a Smart Imphal will remain a promise, not a reality.
The writer is the Publicity Secretary of Uripok Apunba Lup and General Secretary of Uripok Tourangbam Leikai Welfare Organisation.