Abstract Patna, the capital city of Bihar, though boasts of rich cultural heritage, is unfortunately also known as the garbage city of the country. This paper is drawn from by a study conducted to comprehend the current sit- uation about waste production in Patna. We have fo- cused on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) which is commercial as well as residential and is generated in municipal notified areas. The study illustrates that population growth, rapid urbanisation, and a more sophisticated form of consumerism that detaches con- ventional practices, are the major factors influencing waste generation in Patna. We also look at the culture of lumpenism and insensitive attitude of the commu- nity towards the environment. It is our anticipation that renewed focus of the local Municipal Council, attention by the provincial governance, and commit- ment by residents for clean and healthy locality can stem the rot and turn the tide for good. Key words: Consumption, globalisation, knowledge processes, Municipal Solid Wastes, Patna, waste production Here and now Production is a social enterprise. To produce, we get into relationship with others in society. Production is sustained with re-production. It perpetuates in- equality or precipitates change. These processes de- fine our time and space. In this paper we focus on Patna, the capital city of the province of Bihar in India, to comprehend the production of waste. The idea for this paper came up when we picked up one of the thread that defined this city. After attesting to the rich historical heritage, Patna presents itself as what the State High Court declared- the ‘Garbage City’ of the country. Figure 1 shows a street sign in Hindi welcoming people to the city of Patna. The streets of Patna are strewn with garbage (Figure 2 & 3) which is not only displeasing sight but also have several environmental concerns. We analyse the nature of the wastes, the reasons for waste produc- tion, as well as the linkages of the local processes with global imperatives. This paper draws from fieldwork which was con- ducted as part of the project on ‘Waste Management 1 An Analysis of Waste Production in Patna Papia Raj & Aditya Raj Indian Institute of Technology Patna (Bihar) India isa.e-Forum © 2015 The Author(s) © 2015 ISA (Editorial Arrangement of isa.e-Forum) Figure 1. Welcome Message for Visitors Source: Photo taken during fieldwork