Geospatial Multi-criteria Decision Framework for Municipal Landfill Site Selection in Surat City, India

The fast overhaul of existing urban landfills necessitates scientific approaches to identify new municipal landfill sites. To this end, an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS)—Multi Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework is presented encompassing thirteen (Land Use Land Cover, Built-Up Proximity, Ground Elevation, Ground Slope, Road Proximity, Rail Proximity, Airport Proximity, Land Value, Vegetation Proximity, Water Body Proximity, Land Surface Temperature, Lineament Proximity, Ground Water Depth) Evaluation criteria to propose new municipal landfill sites for Surat city in western Indian state of Gujarat, India. Furthermore, an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is applied based on assessments from 10 experts to develop a landfill suitability map, integrating the relative contributions of the thirteen evaluation criteria. Out of 1250 sq. km, 10.89% is most suitable, 42.06% is fairly suitable, 26.25% is moderately suitable, 18.23% is less suitable, and 2.57% is unsuitable for landfill site development. Further, TOPIS MCDM technique is applied to rank 15 candidate landfill locations within the most suitable zones. Locations in Vanz, Sachin, Sarol and Kamrez are the top three ranked locations for future landfill development to cater Surat municipal waste. These findings provide valuable insights for urban planners and decision-makers, enabling them to transition from heuristic to evidence-based approaches in landfill site selection.