ISSN 0972-9445
Emerging Trends in Development Research
Vol. 33, No. 1 & 2, 2026, 11-26
Operational Sustainability and Environmental Risks of ODF Plus Waste Management Systems
in Rural Assam: A Circular Economy Perspective
Nibedita Paul
Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya, India
Abstract
The transition from Open Defecation Free (ODF) status to ODF Plus (ODF+) under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin represents a significant shift in India’s rural sanitation agenda from infrastructure creation toward sustainable Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). In Assam, numerous Central Processing Units (CPUs) were established across Gram Panchayats to operationalize decentralized waste management systems. However, despite substantial public investment, many of these facilities remain non-functional or severely underutilized due to technical, institutional, and financial constraints. This study critically examines the operational sustainability of ODF+ waste management systems in rural Assam and assesses their associated environmental risks within the broader framework of circular economy transition.
The study adopts a systematic desk-research methodology based entirely on secondary data collected from government reports, policy documents, environmental studies, SBM-G records, institutional assessments, and published literature. A triangulation-based analytical framework was used to evaluate infrastructure functionality, governance capacity, financial sustainability, and environmental impacts. The analysis integrates infrastructure gap assessment, spatial-environmental nexus mapping, and policy-economic comparison to identify systemic weaknesses in rural waste management systems. Findings reveal a significant disconnect between sanitation infrastructure creation and long-term operational sustainability. Most Gram Panchayats lack trained technical personnel, maintenance systems, and reliable operational financing mechanisms, resulting in idle machinery and dysfunctional waste-processing facilities. The study further identifies severe environmental externalities arising from unmanaged waste accumulation, including leachate contamination of wetlands, ponds, irrigation canals, groundwater systems, and agricultural land. In Assam’s flood-prone rural landscape, seasonal inundation intensifies the spread of pollutants, threatening fisheries, soil health, water quality, and agrarian livelihoods.
The paper argues that the current subsidy-dependent sanitation model is structurally unsustainable and incapable of ensuring long-term environmental protection or economic resilience. To address these challenges, the study proposes a phased transition toward decentralized circular economy frameworks emphasizing waste recovery, user-fee systems, women-led Self-Help Group (SHG) management models, technical skill development, market integration for compost and recyclables, and climate-resilient infrastructure planning. The study concludes that the sustainability of ODF+ systems in rural Assam depends not merely on infrastructure expansion, but on the creation of locally embedded institutional ecosystems capable of integrating technical capacity, financial viability, environmental governance, and circular economic value generation within climate-vulnerable rural regions.
Key words: decentralized, operational sustainability, circular economy, resilience
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