Seelampur
You will bless the metro when you get to Seelampur. I cannot imagine how I would have found my way otherwise.
A short walk from the Welcome metro station is the sprawling basti of Seelampur. It is by far one of the filthiest places I have visited in Delhi and I HAVE visited quiet a few. There is a large gutter that divides Seelampur Ext and Seelampur. Walk along the nala and you will know why it is choking with weird things. They said it is the biggest e-waste market in Asia, and looking at the size of the place, I guess I will give then the benefit of doubt. It’s surprisingly well organized. The units there do not confuse their priorities. If you are looking for circuit boards, you will find them all (computers/televisions) in one unit, Air-conditioner in one and even the ball-bearings of fans have a separate unit to themselves.
Under the threat of the sealing undertaken by the government and the illegal nature of the business, the people there are extremely suspicious of any strange face. I decided to become a furniture designer looking for interesting material, instead of the researcher I was in Mandoli. And I must admit that furniture designers are treated with lesser suspicion than researchers are.
The nature of the trade it seems is to procure electronic/ electrical waste and segregate it. The picture tubes were being repairs in s few units. But largely the people were employed in segregation. Opening up watches to remove the metal from the dial, cleaning the circuit boards of wires, spilling the insides of the tube-lights and gorging out the batteries of air conditioners.
Some claims were made regarding the shipment of the reusable material to Germany. The waste first reaches the ports of Gujarat, from where it is sent to Delhi and other parts of Mumbai for disposal and segregation.
The old electronics spent their lives in the bustle of seelampur before they are finally buried in the land to poison the soil and spike the underground water. The big manufacturers turn their attention to the production n marketing. The government turns its attention to petty politics. The burden of the waste is there…….. to soil the hands of the impoverished labour and gradually add to the Global dump created by the incompetence of manufacturers and the nonchalance of the government.
A short walk from the Welcome metro station is the sprawling basti of Seelampur. It is by far one of the filthiest places I have visited in Delhi and I HAVE visited quiet a few. There is a large gutter that divides Seelampur Ext and Seelampur. Walk along the nala and you will know why it is choking with weird things. They said it is the biggest e-waste market in Asia, and looking at the size of the place, I guess I will give then the benefit of doubt. It’s surprisingly well organized. The units there do not confuse their priorities. If you are looking for circuit boards, you will find them all (computers/televisions) in one unit, Air-conditioner in one and even the ball-bearings of fans have a separate unit to themselves.
Under the threat of the sealing undertaken by the government and the illegal nature of the business, the people there are extremely suspicious of any strange face. I decided to become a furniture designer looking for interesting material, instead of the researcher I was in Mandoli. And I must admit that furniture designers are treated with lesser suspicion than researchers are.
The nature of the trade it seems is to procure electronic/ electrical waste and segregate it. The picture tubes were being repairs in s few units. But largely the people were employed in segregation. Opening up watches to remove the metal from the dial, cleaning the circuit boards of wires, spilling the insides of the tube-lights and gorging out the batteries of air conditioners.
Some claims were made regarding the shipment of the reusable material to Germany. The waste first reaches the ports of Gujarat, from where it is sent to Delhi and other parts of Mumbai for disposal and segregation.
The old electronics spent their lives in the bustle of seelampur before they are finally buried in the land to poison the soil and spike the underground water. The big manufacturers turn their attention to the production n marketing. The government turns its attention to petty politics. The burden of the waste is there…….. to soil the hands of the impoverished labour and gradually add to the Global dump created by the incompetence of manufacturers and the nonchalance of the government.
posted by jabber at 3:54 AM
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