The Times of India 06.12.2010
Construction and demolition debris needs proper disposal
VARANASI: The solid waste generated due to construction and demolition (C&D) contributes significantly to the total municipal generation in the city, but there is no arrangement for its separation.
Most of the waste generated in the city comprises biodegradable, compostable and recyclable material. A small percentage of waste also comprises debris and inert material generated from construction, repair and maintenance activities. According to the report of the city development plan for Varanasi prepared under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) these wastes contain bricks, cement concrete, stones, tiles, wood, and the storage of this waste at the time of its generation is totally neglected. By and large, people deposit construction waste, after salvaging useful material, on the road.
However, municipal commissioner V K Dubey claimed that the municipal wastes were removed properly. According to him, the solid waste management plant would be operational in the next six months in Karsara area for the sustainable management of wastes. According to records of JNNURM, there is daily generation of about 600 MT waste in the city, out of which 450 MT is collected and disposed. The municipal solid waste mainly comprises waste generated from household, markets, commercial establishments, hotels, hospitals, and small scale industries in the town. It has been assumed that the local residents of towns generate solid waste at the rate of about 425 gm per capita per day on an average. This constitutes 75 per cent of the total waste. Road sweeping waste and commercial waste comprises the maximum percentage of solid waste generated.
Meanwhile, a report has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in March last to evolve a road map on management of wastes in the country. The ministry had constituted a committee for this purpose. The committee recognised the need for establishing an environmentally sound waste management programme in the country. The committee, primarily, focused on issues relating to various measures required for segregation, collection, transportation, treatment, recycling and disposal of various types of waste at the generation, treatment and disposal levels.
In Varanasi, about 25 MT per day construction and demolition waste is generated. According to JNNURM report, it is 4.16 per cent of the total municipal waste (600 MT per day). However, at national level, according to the report of the committee, it is estimated that the construction industry in India generates about 10-12 million tonnes of waste annually. While some of the items like bricks, tiles, wood, metal are re-used and recycled, concrete and masonry, constituting about 50 per cent of the C&D waste is not currently recycled in India. The presence of C&D waste and other inert matters is significant (almost one third of total MSW on an average) but so far, no notable development has taken place for utilising this in an organised manner. At present, private contractors remove this waste to privately owned low-lying land for a price or more commonly, dump it in an unauthorised manner along roads or other public land. Small quantities of construction and demolition waste usually get mixed with domestic waste due to lack of segregated storage and collection facilities.
The committee suggests that such waste requires focus primarily in view of its potential to save natural resources, the space it occupies at the sanitary landfill site and its potential for spoiling processing of biodegradable as well as other recyclable waste. On the other hand, it has potential use after processing and grading. So far in India there is very little effort to manage and utilise construction and demolition waste. Each city needs to have its own mechanism for collection and disposal of waste from bulk waste producers and construction debris. The report further suggests that until the relevant standards are stipulated and market is developed for C&D waste recycled products, financial sustainability cannot be achieved. Therefore, it would be necessary to evolve a system in which the generator of the such waste, whether small or large, pays for appropriate disposal. Not much effort has been made in this sector and data on generation and characteristics is scarcely available.
