The wrong way to do International Aid

This is a picture of the Delhi incinerator/power plant. It was built by the Danes as a aid project to help the Indian people. The idea was to solve two classic Indian problems in one stroke: solid waste pollution and electricity production.

What the planners did not realize is that Indians are some of the worlds most ingenious recyclers. There are apparently people who support themselves by sorting other people's garbage, and if they can devise a secondary use for an item they will use it, rather than letting it go. One upshot of this recylcing mania is that the Indians dispose of very few things that are burnable, combustible material is generally used for heat or for cooking well before it hits the incineration plant. In fact, pretty much the only things which made it as far as the plant were nasty burning things lacking caloric value, such as plastics and industrial waste.

So, I'm told the incinerator/power plant stands idle, having never generated a single kilowatt of energy. But on the positive side, the Danes get to feel good about their social consciousness, and everyone else gets an object lesson in thinking through a project before beginning.