Location (Rural & Urban)

9 Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Nuh district, Haryana (Rural)

Nuh City (Urban) (select wards, commercial establishments, and households)

The Need

Nuh, an Aspirational District in Haryana, has long struggled with unmanaged waste, rampant open dumping, and waste burning, which severely impact public health and the environment. Over the past two years, Saahas has implemented a waste management system benefiting over 40,000 people across 5,000 households in 9 Gram Panchayats, creating sustainable livelihoods for waste collectors and improving resource recovery. We need to continue working here for another 1- 2 years to transition these operations to local governance while expanding interventions to address waste generation in Nuh City.

Focus Areas  

Source segregation, decentralized waste systems, formalizing informal waste workers, maximise resource recovery, circular economy solutions, and capacitated governance.

Beneficiaries 

Local communities, waste workers, local administrative authorities, and commercial establishments

Intersectional Impacts 

Climate resilience, rural and  urban sanitation, waste-to-resource solutions, and dignified livelihoods

Project Duration 

1-2 years

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Location (urban)

Sikanderpur and Nathupur villages, Gurugram, Haryana 

The Need

Urban villages in Gurugram struggle with waste management due to high population density and unstructured collection systems. Sikanderpur generates 6 tonnes of waste daily, while Nathupur generates 10 tonnes. 

After four years of intervention in Sikanderpur, it now has a secondary collection point, a structured collection system, and households practicing source segregation. To ensure sustainability, we need another year to streamline operations and improve efficiency.

In Nathupur, we have completed Phase 1 (July 2024 – March 2025) covering 2,000 of 10,000 households, enhancing segregation, cleanliness, and waste collection. However, the lack of a decentralized processing site hampers waste tracking. 

We aim to establish structured collection points, provide waste workers with trolleys for rejected waste, divert wet waste to pig farms/cow sheds, and maximize dry waste recovery—reducing landfill burden. We aim to achieve this in a 2-3 year time period. 

Project video of work done so far

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Focus Areas

Source segregation, decentralized waste systems, formalizing informal waste workers, circular economy solutions, and capacitated governance

Beneficiaries

Local communities, waste workers, municipal authorities, and commercial establishments

Intersectional Impacts 

Climate resilience, urban sanitation, waste-to-resource solutions, and dignified livelihoods

Project Duration 

1- 3 years

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Location (Rural)

Shivamogga and Bhadravathi, Karnataka

The Need

Rural areas in Shivamogga district face waste management challenges due to unstructured collection systems, open dumping, and low segregation rates. The lack of formalized waste management affects public health, resource recovery, and environmental sustainability. Shivamogga and Bhadravathi taluks were selected for intervention to establish a scalable and sustainable waste management model.

Over the past two years, Saahas has implemented a structured Solid Waste Management (SWM) system, focusing on deep interventions in six Model GPs and scaling up to 29 additional GPs in Shivamogga and Bhadravathi.

In Model GPs, we have achieved 100% waste collection coverage and a 73% segregation rate through Dry Waste Collection Centers (DWCCs) and Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Scale-up GPs, introduced in the second year, now have 97% collection coverage and a 43% segregation rate, with ongoing improvements.

To ensure long-term sustainability, we need another year to increase segregation rates, strengthen dry waste recovery, and stabilize collection systems and to to transition these operations to local governance

Focus Areas

Source segregation, decentralized waste systems, formalizing informal waste workers, SHG formation, circular economy solutions, and capacitated governance

Beneficiaries

Local communities, waste workers, municipal authorities, and commercial establishments

Intersectional Impacts

Climate resilience, urban sanitation, waste-to-resource solutions, and dignified livelihoods

Project Duration

1 year

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Location (Urban)

Hyderabad, Telengana

The Need

The Cycle of Change project focuses on raising awareness about sustainable menstruation and reducing sanitary waste through behavioral change interventions. Over the past nine months, the project has conducted 58 sessions in educational institutions and communities, reaching 5,318 women across all socio-economic backgrounds.

Through these efforts, 1,606 sustainable menstrual products (menstrual cups and cloth pads) have been distributed, leading to 560 women successfully switching to sustainable alternatives. The initiative has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, particularly from lower- and middle-income communities, with many participants requesting further sessions in their localities.

While significant progress has been made, further intervention of 1-2 years is required to scale impact, deepen adoption, and reach new communities education institutions, corporates add moe3 . Strengthening engagement with stakeholders and expanding access to affordable sustainable menstrual products will ensure long-term behavior change and a lasting reduction in sanitary waste.

Focus Areas

Menstrual health awareness, Behavioral change for sustainable menstruation, Access to reusable menstrual products, Reduction of plastic-based sanitary waste

Beneficiaries

Women and adolescent girls

Intersectional Impacts

Waste reduction and environmental sustainability, Health and hygiene awareness, Economic savings

Project Duration

1 year

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