Air pollution is huge right now. And sad to say, people pooping in streets and rivers is still a major problem.
To me, plastic remnants are a very minor issue in comparison.
Banning disposable plastic and non biodegradable detergents would go a great way in letting microbes and plants do their job in cleaning up the environment.
With plastics not clogging up the rivers and chemicals not killing all river life, the rivers would definitely run much cleaner. This move was incidentally meant to curb air pollution, so clean rivers or oceans are an added benefit.
don't forget corpses
http://www.planetcustodian.com/2015/10/19/8134/over-50-scary...
Good protein feed for the fish, birds, crocodiles. Instead of taking up real estate.
We bury people for a reason. Or we burn them, or leave them on the land to get eaten by animals, away from water supplies. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_burial)
The difference between what you're proposing is the difference between composting an animal corpse and then using it to fertilize your crops, or just grinding it up and spraying it all over your tomatoes.
Wastewater should be treated. And at least if you concentrate all the waste into one place, you greatly reduce the spread of infectious diseases spread by untreated waste.
Also, your children tend not to be stunted. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sanjay-wijesekera/why-are-indi...
The illegal burning of waste was said to have been contributing to air pollution, which is a major problem in India.
Yes, washing glass is quite a bit more economical than glass recycling. We do the whole glass deposit thing in Germany where I grew up.
(The deposit is actually pretty clever: if you are rich enough not to care, you can just leave your bottle anywhere, and someone else with more time but less money will pick it up sooner or later.)
Water logging is a big issue in Mumbai and perhaps there this policy was useful.
Delhi's air pollution is not because of Delhi but because of surrounding areas. Nothing can be done there.