Reported by Bhadra Gogoi
Dimapur: The Nagaland government has directed all villages in the state to implement source-level waste segregation in accordance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026.
The state Home Department issued a notification on Tuesday under Rule 5(b) of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, notified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The rules came into force on April 1.
Under the notification, every household must segregate and store waste in four separate streams at source.
Wet waste, including kitchen waste, food scraps, vegetable peels, flowers and other biodegradable materials, must be stored in a green bin. Dry waste such as plastic, glass, metal, rubber and other non-biodegradable items must be placed in a blue bin.
Sanitary waste, including used diapers, sanitary napkins, tampons, condoms and incontinence sheets, must be securely wrapped in pouches provided by manufacturers or other suitable wrapping material as prescribed by local authorities before being deposited in a separate sanitary waste bin.
Special care or household hazardous waste, including discarded paint containers, pesticide bottles, CFL bulbs, tube lights, expired medicines, broken mercury thermometers, batteries, used needles and syringes, contaminated gauze, cleaning agents and insecticides, must be stored in a red bag.
The government directed district administrations to ensure implementation of the four-stream waste segregation system in all villages in coordination with the Rural Development, Public Health Engineering (PHE), and Urban Development and Municipal Affairs departments.
District authorities have also been asked to conduct awareness and sensitisation programmes with village authorities to promote sustainable waste management practices.