Households Willingness to Pay for Improved Waste Management In Silchar Municipal Area: A Case Study In Cachar District, Assam.

Abstract

This paper investigates the willingness to pay for an improved waste management in Silchar municipal area under Cachar district in Assam. On an average, 63% of the households are willing to pay for improved waste management. It is therefore apparent that Silchar residents in general regard waste management as an environmental service as they are willing to pay for its provision. An open ended contingent valuation method was used to elicit households' willingness to pay for waste management. We used a multiple regression model to establish the determinants of willingness to pay. The multiple regression estimates revealed that those with a higher expenditure (proxy of income) are willing to pay for an improved waste management. This finding corroborates the environmental economic theory which assumes that the demand for an improved environmental quality increases with income. More aware the person the more they are willing to pay for improved waste management. Larger families are willing to pay for an improved provision of waste management services. Also, educated people are more willing to pay for improvement. Also the presence of working woman in the family does influence the willingness to pay.