Toxic waste generated by your automobile service station is one of the biggest obstacles in the government's mission to clean up India. In the absence of wastewater treatment plants, chemical waste from service stations is dumped directly in to drains, from where it ends up in India’s rivers.

“India desperately needs to prepare a policy for service stations, especially in the metros,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, Centre of Science and Environment. “There are more than 40,000 vehicle service stations operating in cities without environmental clearances, and they dump toxic waste like used engine oil, coolants, car paint and brake oil into drains. Since all drains lead to rivers, this waste pollutes rivers terribly.”

In India there is no segregation process for municipal solid waste. As a result it is impossible to determine the amount of toxic waste generated at workshops.

There are also no studies on the amount of toxic waste generated in the country either. “Everything is dumped either into landfills or into drains in India,” said Ravi Agarwal, the director of Toxics Link. “Ideally, non-biodegradable waste and bio-degradable waste should be treated separately first and the solid remains should be dumped in landfills while the liquid remains should be discharged into the drains.”

Increasing vehicles, mushrooming service stations

Delhi has nearly 75 lakh registered vehicles, according to the Economic Survey of Delhi 2013-2014. This is more than the combined total in Kolkata (22 lakh), Mumbai (22.3 lakh) and Hyderabad (26 lakh). Chennai has the second-largest number of registered cars (around 39 lakh) after Delhi.

Every day 1,000 cars are added to the capital’s streets. This has resulted in the mushrooming of service stations. At present, there are some 14,000 vehicles service stations in Delhi, none of which have the proper environmental clearances. This is due to the lack of a concrete vehicle washing policy, according to an official at the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

It is also close to impossible to keep a track on the total number of automobile workshops as they have been mushrooming with the increase in vehicles. Most of the waste generated at these service stations is non-biodegradable and as a result is highly toxic and hazardous. Waste material like sludge, pouches, cotton, filters, electronic discards, plastic, foam, old tyres, rubber and seat covers. According to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board, out of the 5,875 tonnes of municipal solid waste generated by Delhi every day, between 20% and 30% is toxic and chemical waste generated from service stations and industrial areas.

How Sri Lanka and Bhutan do it

In Sri Lanka, automobile service stations are mandated to use wastewater treatment plants. The treatment systems have grease interceptors, which retains the grease in the wastewater. The wastewater then goes through chemical flocculation and sedimentation before it is discharged into a nearby river.

In addition to that, oil and grease levels have to be constantly monitored by the service station to ensure that the levels are within the prescribed discharge limits for inland surface water as recommended by the Central Environmental Authority in Sri Lanka.

The government of Bhutan has also made it mandatory for every automobile workshop across the country to set-up effluent treatment plants to treat both the wastewater and the toxic waste generated before releasing it into the environment.

The National Environment Commission of Bhutan, together with the Centre of Science and Environment, formulated the guidelines for vehicle washing facilities. “A lot of these toxic wastes can be recycled,” said Roychowdhury. “This not only saves the environment but the recycled products can be re-used.”

The way ahead 

The Indian government needs to take immediate action, at the very least setting up a policy similar to Sri Lanka and Bhutan. The segregation of the municipal solid waste management system cannot be done overnight, according to Agarwal, though he insists that vehicle service station guidelines are essential.

Each wastewater treatment plant in Sri Lanka cost Rs 10 lakh to establish, and Rs 25,000 for maintenance. A similar model can be followed in India where the government should make it mandatory for the authorised service stations to install treatment plants.

“It will be difficult to compel the road side service stations in the country to treat their toxic waste immediately due to the lack of space, but the authorised service stations could do that,” Roychowdhury said.