With the construction and demolition (C&D) waste posing huge threat to environment, the Centre has asked the States to consider levying charges on the waste generators to curb the menace. The Urban Development Ministry in a recent circular to all States has also favoured amendment in municipal bye-laws to include use of the C&D waste conforming to standards in the civil construction and directed its construction agencies such as CPWD to utilise such wastes as a first choice.
“In all, large re-development projects, the C&D waste recycling plants should also be installed at site,” said the circular issued by Praveen Prakash, Joint Secretary (Works) in the Ministry. The advisory comes as the rapidly growing construction industry in the country is generating huge amount of C&D waste annually and there is no proper data available regarding its generation and characteristics.
“These wastes are generally used for the filling of low lying land or dumped in public land or along the roads unauthorisedly. There is no proper management of such waste and there are no rules for storage, collection, transportation, processing and disposal of the waste,” said an official.
There is also need for promotion of separation of C&D waste at source and private enterprise, he added. Because of absence of any proper regulation, the cities are choking causing serious environmental consequences, as per a report by the Centre for science and Environment.
“The Government must immediately notify standards for this material, use legal provisions on use of alternative material in the interim, make developers responsible for good construction practices, onsite segregation of waste, reuse and disposal and impose waste tax to minimise waste generation,” said the report.
“Given the fact that 70 per cent of the buildings that will stand in India in 2030 are yet to be built, this environmental cost will only compound with the anticipated construction boom unless immediate steps are taken to recycle and reuse construction waste and turn it into a resource,” the CSE said. In Delhi, 5,000 tonnes of waste is produced by building, demolition and land-clearing activities every day. Across the country, the total C&D waste generated just by buildings in 2013 amounts to a 530 MT.